Sugar Tech

Shang, Xian-Kun; Wei, Ji-Li; Liu, Wei; Nikpay, Amin; Pan, Xue-Hong; Huang, Cheng-Hua

doi: 10.1007/s12355-024-01510-0pmid: N/A

Sugarcane is primarily cultivated in the tropical and subtropical regions of southern China, where suitable temperatures and abundant food resources create highly conducive conditions for the growth and reproduction of insect pests. Pest infestation adversely affects cane yield and sugar content, resulting in significant economic losses. Consequently, pest control has become a crucial aspect of sugarcane cultivation. Over the past two decades, China has achieved remarkable progress in the monitoring and management of sugarcane insect pests, fueled by the synergistic development of various control measures, including cultural, physical, biological, and chemical strategies. This review summarizes the development history and current status of sugarcane pests in monitoring and integrated pest management (IPM) measures in China, discusses the major problems and corresponding solution strategies in current pest management practices, and outlines the future development direction of sugarcane IPM. We propose IPM strategies at different growth stages of sugarcane, providing a reference framework for the scientific and effective management of sugarcane pests in China.

Lavanya, B. T.; Manjunatha, A. V.

doi: 10.1007/s12355-024-01499-6pmid: N/A

Sugarcane market in India is almost turning monopsonic in nature given the trend in declining jaggery processing units coupled with policies like cane reservation area and minimum distance criterion. Under the cane reservation policy, certain area is reserved for each sugar mill, and all the farmers are entitled to sell their cane only to that designated sugar mill. Deeper observation into the scenario unravels structure of existing sugarcane market. With the exploratory research approach this article tries to identify the monopsonic characteristics exhibited by sugarcane market, reasons behind it and its impact on sugarcane farmers and millers. Single buyer, restriction on entry of firms, geographic immobility of seller and buyer is a price maker are some of the monopsonic characteristics exhibited and reasons behind it could be deteriorating jaggery sector, lobbying capacities of sugar millers and inclined State support to sugar mills. This kind of market structure has several negative impacts on its stakeholders like limited opportunity for seller to select their buyer and vice versa, low welfare as compared to perfect competition and farmers lose their control over their microlevel decisions. This is important that now the State takes active step towards abolishing market distorting policies in sugar sector in order to find a solution to current crisis in the sector.

Hu, Shuang-Lan; Mo, Liu-Zhen; Zhang, Ping-Jun

doi: 10.1007/s12355-024-01505-xpmid: N/A

The sugar industry is inherently reliant on the use of lime as a clarifying agent, specifically calcium oxide. Oyster shells possess a high content of calcium carbonate, which can be converted into calcium oxide through high-temperature calcination. This process not only addresses the issue of solid waste pollution caused by discarded oyster shells but also yields food-grade lime products with significant added value for the sugar industry. In this study, oyster shells were subjected to high-temperature calcination in a muffle furnace to determine weight loss rate and available calcium oxide content under varying temperature and time conditions. The resulting calcium oxide activity was compared with that of reference materials using SEM, FTIR, XRD, and BET analysis. The findings demonstrate that appropriately timed and temperature-controlled calcination of oyster shells produces viable calcium oxide suitable for clarification purposes in the sugar industry.

Tripathi, M. K.; Shukla, S. K.; Jaiswal, V. P.; Sharma, Lalan; Nagargade, Mona; Pathak, A. D.; Dwivedi, A. P.; Tripathi, Ankur; Singh, V. K.; Singh, V. P.; Ranka, Ajay

doi: 10.1007/s12355-024-01513-xpmid:

da Rocha, Mara Rubia; Marques, Eder; Faria, Denner Robert; de Filippi, Marta Cristina Corsi; Araújo, Fernando Godinho; Teixeira, Renato Andrade

doi: 10.1007/s12355-024-01503-zpmid: N/A

Historically, sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is one of Brazil’s main agricultural products, leading the list of producing countries. Sugarcane is thus very important in Brazil, due to the socioeconomic impact of sugar and ethanol production. Phytonematodes are a constant threat to sugarcane cultivation, representing a high-risk and limiting phytosanitary problem for the crop. Meloidogyne and Pratylenchus are the most common genera in these areas. Studies have been carried out in an attempt to use alternative methods in the management of nematodes, aiming to reduce chemical control. Among these alternative measures, the use of resistance-inducing agents and natural nematicides has been explored. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of acibenzolar-S-methyl and neem oil, in the management of Meloidogyne spp. and Pratylenchus brachyurus in sugarcane. For this, experiments were carried out in greenhouse conditions. Enzymes involved in plant defense were also evaluated. M. javanica, M. incognita and P. brachyurus showed a reduction in population density as the doses of the resistance inducer and neem oil were increased. At higher doses, the nematode population increased again. The enzymatic activity of peroxidase, chitinase and β-1, 3 glucanase was not influenced by the treatments.

Athinarayanan, Jegan; Periasamy, Vaiyapuri Subbarayan; Alshatwi, Ali A.

doi: 10.1007/s12355-024-01504-ypmid: N/A

Carbon quantum dots (C-QDs), the zero-dimensional carbon nanostructures, have attracted considerable attention because of their tremendous physical, chemical, and biological features. Food-borne C-QDs identification and their biological behavior assessment have been the most debated research in recent years. Thus, in this study, food-borne C-QDs were isolated from palmyra palm jaggery (PPJ). The optical, structural, and crystalline features of C-QDs were characterized. Additionally, we evaluated the antioxidant and cytocompatibility properties of C-QDs using an in vitro method. Transmission electron microscopic images revealed that C-QDs are semi-spherical with 10–35 nm in diameter. As a result of cytotoxicity test indicates that C-QDs reduced the cell viability by around 26% and 24% at 400 µg/mL exposure for 24 and 48 h, respectively. An acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining effect ascribed to C-QDs enhanced cell death in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) through apoptosis. The LysoRed staining showed the internalization of C-QDs in hMSCs. Based on the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) level assessment, the C-QDs do not induce MMP depletion and ROS generation in hMSCs even at high concentration exposure. SOD, GSR, and p53 genes were downregulated in hMSCs treated with C-QDs, but NFKB1 was significantly upregulated. Overall, the C-QDs isolated from PPJ are antioxidative and non-toxic. The C-QDs could be used as antioxidant agents in food formulations.

Nunavath, Aswini; Amaresh, ; Nandhini, M.; Keerthana, S.; Kumar, Rajeev; Gujjar, R. S.; Gomathi, R.; Selvi, A.; Govindaraj, P.; Manimekalai, R.

doi: 10.1007/s12355-024-01509-7pmid: N/A

CYP450 enzymes are versatile catalysts involved in diverse chemical reactions, including xenobiotic metabolism and stress response pathways. Sugarcane, a globally significant energy crop, faces oxidative stress induced by abiotic and biotic stresses impacting plant metabolism and physiology. This study aimed to compare the response of cultivated (Co 86032) and stress-tolerant wild sugarcane species (Erianthus arundinaceus and Saccharum spontaneum) to oxidative stress. Transcriptomic analysis was conducted to identify genes responsive to oxidative stress and CYP450 enzymes, while protein–protein interactions of cytochrome family proteins were explored under oxidative stress conditions. Differential expression patterns of gene transcripts were observed under oxidative stress across different species. In the cultivated variety (Co 86032), two downregulated CYP450 gene transcripts were identified. In contrast, one upregulated CYP450 gene transcript was observed in both Erianthus sp. and S. spontaneum. Additionally, S. spontaneum exhibited eight downregulated transcripts. The gene CYP 450 84A1 was upregulated in all the genotypes; however, the fold change was higher for the wild species than the Co 86032. RT-PCR validation of the CYP450 84A1 gene confirmed the findings from next-generation sequencing data, showing consistent results. Additionally, by designing primers for three individual exons, the study observed varying levels of variant transcripts for the CYP450 84A1. The protein interaction network analysis showed a shared protein, Sh_212F09_p000130, identified as a 4-coumarate-CoA ligase-like 1 protein, present in the networks of both S. spontaneum and Co 86032, suggesting its involvement in combating biotic and abiotic stresses.

Wang, Zichen; Jiang, Bingshan; Pang, Caiwei; Liu, Lin; Zhou, Qin

doi: 10.1007/s12355-024-01512-ypmid: N/A

A comprehensive analytical method was developed for detecting the presence of 15 organophosphorus pesticide residues in various sugar beet types. This method employed a gas chromatography-flame photometric detector. Additionally, a modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, safe method, combined with gas chromatography-electron capture detection, was utilized for determining 20 organochlorine pesticide residues. The established procedure was subsequently applied to evaluate and conduct a risk assessment of 208 samples sourced from the principal sugar beet production areas. For sample extraction, acetonitrile was used as the solvent, leading to a phase separation. The supernatant was then extracted and concentrated using rotary evaporation, retaining 10 mL of the extract. This extract was further diluted with acetone and directly injected through a 0.22-µm filter membrane. Gas chromatographic analysis was carried out using programmed temperature mode and FPD detector. The results showed that the 15 pesticides showed good linearity (R2 > 0.99) with the limits of detection ranging from 0.0047 to 0.0261 mg/kg, the limits of quantification ranging from 0.0143 to 0.0790 mg/kg, and the average recoveries ranged from 60.3 to 120% with the relative standard deviations of 2.0–19.3%. The risk assessment of 15 organophosphorus, 20 organochlorine, and pyrethroid pesticides was carried out on 208 actual samples, and none of the detected pesticides with reference values exceeded the standard, and the risk quotient of chronic dietary intake was less than 100%, which indicated that the risk of pesticide hazards to human health in sugar beets was low. The method is suitable for the determination of organophosphorus pesticide residues in sugar beets because of its simple operation, high precision and accuracy, short analysis time, and low use of organic solvents.

dos Santos, Denize Palmito; Vasconcelos, Julio Cezar Souza

doi: 10.1007/s12355-024-01506-wpmid: N/A

In scientific research, field experiments are essential to validate theories in real conditions. However, these investigations often face limitations due to sample scarcity, which can compromise the robustness and interpretability of results. Synthetic data generation offers an effective solution for expanding datasets, enabling more comprehensive analyses even when real data are limited. Although synthetic data are not real, it can maintain the mathematical and statistical properties of real data, making it a valuable tool for improving analytical accuracy. This study aims to generate synthetic data using two synthesizers: Gaussian Copulas and Generative Adversarial Neural Networks (GANs). The dataset used refers to the evaluation of the effects of different levels of nitrogen fertilizers (N) on the dry matter production of sugar beet roots. Five nitrogen fertilizers levels were tested: 0, 35, 70, 105, and 140 kg/ha, with a randomized block design containing three blocks and five plots per block. The focus of this research is to increase the sample size to consider different statistical and machine learning models. The comparison between synthetic and real data revealed that the Gaussian Copulas synthesizer outperformed the CTGAN synthesizer. This superiority was evidenced by the proximity of the graphical representations and the performance of the models compared to real data. Furthermore, the random forest model trained with synthetic data generated by Gaussian Copulas presented better performance metrics than the CTGAN synthesizer, indicating that synthetic data can be a valuable support in the analysis of agronomic experiments.

Anusha, S.; Geetha, P.; Krishnapriya, V.; Tayade, A. S.; Kumar, R. Arun

doi: 10.1007/s12355-024-01515-9pmid: N/A

Weed infestation is a serious menace in widely spaced sugarcane, which is gaining popularity in tropical India to facilitate mechanization. Field trials were conducted for two consecutive years to assess the effect of various weed management approaches employing sequential and tank mix application of herbicides (topramezone, tembotrione and halosulfuron methyl) and hand weeding on diverse weed flora, weed control efficiency and yield of sugarcane plant crop. Lowest weed density, weed biomass, highest weed control efficiency and weed control index were observed for three hand weeding at 30, 60 and 90 days after planting (DAP) which was on par with early post-emergence application of metribuzin 1250 g ha−1 at 10 days after planting (DAP) followed by (fb) post emergence application of topramezone 29.4 + atrazine 625 g ha−1 or halosulfuron methyl 67.5 + metribuzin 525 g ha−1 or tembotrione 120 + atrazine 625 g ha−1 at 65 DAP fb hand weeding at 120 DAP. Highest cane yield was obtained with aforementioned treatments and they were significantly superior to unweeded control. The net returns and benefit: cost ratio was also highest with early post-emergence application of metribuzin 1250 g ha−1 at 10 DAP fb post emergence application of topramezone 29.4 + atrazine 625 g ha−1 or halosulfuron methyl 67.5 + metribuzin 525 g ha−1 or tembotrione 120 + atrazine 625 g ha−1 at 65 DAP fb hand weeding at 120 DAP. Topramezone, tembotrione and halosulfuron methyl at the tested dose did not record any phytotoxicity to sugarcane variety Co 86032, which is the ruling variety in tropical India. Sugarcane growers can use these herbicides in rotation along with one hand weeding for efficient and economic weed management.