Effects of harvest time on bioethanol production and bagasse characteristics for combustion and forage in sweet sorghum

Determining the optimal harvest time is very crucial to achieve sustainable production of first-generation bioethanol as well as efficient use of its bagasse for combustion or feed in sweet sorghum. The aim of the current research was to understand the effects of different harvest times, which comprised flowering (FLW), soft dough (SD), hard dough (HD), and physiological maturity (PM) on the bioethanol production and the combustion and forage characteristics of its bagasse in sweet sorghum. In one study, averaged over a period of 2 years, the mean theoretical total ethanol yield (TEY) was between 4802 and 5316 L ha(-1). The PM harvest produced the highest TEY, which was followed by the HD and SD harvests, with sligh differences. These results suggested that sweet sorghum should be harvested at any phenological stage after FLW to achieve sustainable total (juice + lignocellulosic) bioethanol production in a semi-arid Mediterranean environment. Averaged over a period of 2 years, the mean dry bagasse yield (DBY) achieved from the harvest times herein ranged between 12.0 and 14.1 t ha(-1). As with TEY, the PM harvest exhibited the highest DBY and desirable bagasse combustion caharacteristics due to exhibiting the lowest moisture and ash contents, which indicated that it seemed be the most suitable harvest time if obtaining solid biofuel production from the bagasse is the main target after the production of juice ethanol. On the other hand, the HD harvest provided the highest bagasse forage quality among the harvest times due to exhibiting the significantly lowest neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber contents, but the significantly highest relative feed value. These results suggested that the HD harvest time was the most suitable for sweet sorghum cultivation when producing juice ethanol that is complemented by the production of forage utilizing the bagasse.