Impact of burning harvesting on the agroindustrial quality of the sugarcane variety ‘Mex 69-290’

Abstract

The Mexican state of Veracruz in the 2019-2020 harvest produced 18,413,583 t of sugarcane, with an average of 56,587 t ha-1 and a factory yield of 10.2 %, with a total sucrose produced of 1,876,437 t. At present, 90.063 % of the planted area in all the mills is burned before being cut, affecting the health of the inhabitants of the neighboring towns, the properties of the soil, and the quality of the raw material, which is diminished by the time elapsed between cutting and processing in the mills. To determine the deterioration of the main sugarcane variety ‘Mex 69-290’ due to the effect of burning, a randomized block factorial arrangement with three replications was established: I) raw cut cane, II) uncut burned cane, III) whole cut burned cane and days after cutting (0, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4 and 5 days). The variables analyzed were: Pol percentage, reducing sugars, cane moisture, and °Brix. It is concluded that the deterioration of ‘Mex 69-290’ sugarcane is more visible 24 h after cutting, with losses in °Brix, Pol, humidity, and an increase in reducing sugars. The whole cut burnt cane presented the greatest deterioration, followed by the uncut burnt cane, and the raw cut cane presented the least deterioration.

Keywords

• post-harvest spoilage
• sugar agribusiness
• sustainability