Evaluation of Sweet Sorghum as a Source of Fermentable Sugars for the Production of Fuel Alcohol

Abstract

Twelve cultivars of sweet sorghum were evaluated for total fermentable sugar content of the stalks. Parameters investigated for each cultivar were height and weight of plants, volume and weight of juice per plant and total sugar content of the juice. Sucrose, glucose and fructose were found to he the only fermentable sugars present at the ripe stage of maturity. The total sugar content in the juice of the 12 cultivars varied from 7.94-17.60 g 100 ml '. All the cultivars except one were found to be good sources of fermentable sugars .Juiciness of stalks from the cultivars as estimated by the quantity of juice extracted varied from 1X4-47 / ml per kilogram of fresh stalks The cultivars were cultivated at three different growing periods and all the cultivars produced better results during the April-July growing period