Preservation of potential fermentables in sweet sorghum by ensiling.
Pressed and wilted samples of sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench var. Rio] were ensiled for periods up to 155 days. A kinetic study of the biochemical changes which occurred during ensiling showed that in wilted sorghum ensilage invert sugars and mannitol levels collectively were maintained at 65% of the original ferment able sugar content of the sorghum. The acidic environment produced by ensiling also served as a pretreatment that resulted in enhanced yields of reducing sugar when the sorghum was contacted with cellulolytic enzymes. The quantity of sugar obtained from enzymatic hydrolysis more than compensated for carbohydrate used by organisms during the ensiling process. Both Saccharomyces uvarum and Clostridium acetobutylicum were able to ferment a medium constituted from pressed sorghum juice and the solution resulting from enzymatic hydrolysis of sweet sorghum ensilage.
Linden
J C
JC
Department of Agricultural and Chemical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
Henk
L L
LL
Murphy
V G
VG
Smith
D H
DH
Gabrielsen
B C
BC
Tengerdy
R P
RP
Czako
L
L