Sorghum as Dry Land Feedstock for Fuel Ethanol Production

Dry land crops such as sorghums(grain sorghum,sweet sorghum and forage sorghum)have been identified aspromising feedstocks for fuel ethanol production.The major issue for using the sweet sorghum as feedstock is its stability at room temperature.At room temperature,the sweet sorghum juice could lose from 40%to50%of its fermentable sugars from 7to14 days.No significant sugar content and profile changes were observed in juice stored at refrigerator temperature in two weeks.Ethanolfermentation efficiencies of fresh and frozen juice were high(-93%).Concentrated juice(≥25%sugar)had significantly lower efficiencies and large amounts of fructose left in finished beer; however,winery yeast strains and novel fermentation techniques maysolve these problems.The ethanol yield from sorghum grain increased as starch content increased.No linear relationship betweenstarch content and fermentation efficiency was found.Key factors affecting the ethanol fermentation efficiency of sorghum includestarches and protein digestibility,amylose-lipid complexes,tannin content,and mash viscosity.Life cycle analysis showed a positivenet energy value(NEV)=25 500 Btu/gal ethanol.Fourier transform infrared(FTIR)spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction(XRD)were used to determine changes in the structure and chemical composition of sorghum biomasses.Dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment waseffective in removing the hemicellulose from biomasses and exposing the cellulose for enzymatic hydrolysis.Forage sorghum ligninhad a lower syringyl/guaiacyl ratio and its pretreated biomass was easier to hydrolyze.Up to 72% hexose yield and 94% pentoseyield were obtained by using a modified steam explosion with 2% sulfuric acid at 140"C for 30 min and enzymatic hydrolysis withcellulase.