Storage Stability of Sugarcane Stalks

Abstract

Background: Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is a giant grass, belonging to the Poaceae family, and is considered as a crop of economic importance. It is the second largest agro based industry involving nearly 50.00 million farmers, their dependent and a large mass of agriculture labours. It is also known as noble cane, due to its high sucrose content and is mostly used for manufacturing of jaggery and crystalized sugars. Its consumption is very popular worldwide but there are few studies that focus on post-harvest storage of sugarcane stalks. The objectives of this study was to evaluate the quality of stored sugarcane stalks as well as fresh juice extracted from stored canes. Methods: During the investigation sugarcane variety Co238 were cleaned and grouped into bundles containing 5 stalks for each replicate (3) and then stored under both ambient (17-22°C temperature and 45-52% RH) and refrigerated temperature (4±1°C temperature and 60-65% RH). The parameter studied were weight loss, juice yield, total soluble solids, titratable acidity and pH at every 15 days interval for 120 days. Result: Study showed that among both the storage, refrigerated condition for storage of sugarcane stalks was found better to retain the maximum juice yield (40.09%) with minimum weight loss (5.15%) and maintain the quality for longer period as compared to ambient storage condition.