Effect of ambient temperature on the storage quality of harvested sugarcane

ObjectiveSucrose loss after harvest of cane is one of the major problems of sugar industry. Studies were directed to assess the magnitude of sucrose losses during winter and summer month of cane milling in sub-tropical India.MethodThe harvested stored cane were treated with three methods, viz., T-I: heap kept in open, used as control; T-2:sprinkled with water and covered with thick layers of trash; T-3: heap treated with benzalkonium chloride + sodium metasilicate and covered with thick layer of trash). Sucrose losses in the harvested stored cane were assessed at different time intervals using quality parameters, viz., Pol% juice, purity, invert sugar, acid invertase and commercial cane sugar (CCS). ResultThe loss in CCS increased with the rise in ambient temperature, and showed the lower in the month of January (2.27 unit) compared to April (5.29 units) after 240 h of harvest. The decline in purity in the control was much higher than that in treated cane, and the increase of reducing sugar due to inversion in chemically treated cane was minimum as compared to non treated ones. There was appreciable difference in the activity of invertase during summer and winter months, and the activity of acid invertase increased sharply at high temperature and this increase was higher in untreated cane as compared to treated one. ConclusionApplication of a chemical formulation containing benzalkonium chloride and sodium metasilicate on the harvested stored cane minimized deterioration and loss in CCS as well as suppressed acid invertase activity.