Location of water in fresh sugarcane bagasse observed by synchrotron X-ray microtomography

PLoS One. 2018 Dec 6;13(12):e0208219. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208219. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Sugarcane bagasse is a vast lignocellulosic byproduct generated in the industry with ~50% humidity (1 kg dry matter associated with 1 kg water). Although the presence of water brings deleterious consequences for combustion, storage and sugar extraction, the location of water in fresh bagasse remains unknown. In this work, we use synchrotron X-ray microtomography for non-invasive 3D imaging of fresh bagasse particles, which allows the visualization of intraparticle water. The sclerified fiber cells in the sheaths surrounding xylem vessels are often found full of water. We suggest this can be juice preserved from the native stalks as many sclerified fibers seem to keep their structural integrity despite the mechanical action during sugarcane crushing. The microtomograms of fresh bagasse also shows mineral particles adhered to biomass surfaces, with adhesion presumably favored by the presence of water. In summary, this work unveils the location of water in fresh bagasse, solving an old mystery of sugarcane technology.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomass
  • Cellulose / metabolism*
  • Saccharum / metabolism*
  • Synchrotrons*
  • Water / metabolism*
  • X-Ray Microtomography / methods*

Substances

  • Water
  • Cellulose
  • bagasse

Associated data

  • Dryad/10.5061/dryad.c7c4151

Grants and funding

CED acknowledges financial supports from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP, grant 14/50884-5) through the National Institute of Science and Technology of Bioethanol (INCT Bioetanol). CED and DYC acknowledge financial support from FAPESP grants 2015/01587-0 and 17/01330-5 and high-performance computing resources from the Information Technology Superintendence of the University of São Paulo. CED acknowledges Laboratório Nacional de Luz Síncrotron (LNLS) for the microtomography beamtime (proposal IMX20160526). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.