Syrup Production from Sweet Sorghum

This paper presents pioneering developmental work on syrup production from sweet sorghum. A hybrid sweet sorghum „Madhura‟ has been developed which produces excellent syrup. This paper details the agronomy and the juice characteristics of this hybrid. Protocols for making excellent syrup from sweet sorghum are also outlined. Finally an economic analysis for syrup production is detailed. Sweet sorghum-an attractive feedstock for syrup making Sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is the best multipurpose crop for simultaneous production of (i) grain from its earhead as food, (ii) sugary juice from its stalk for making syrup, jaggery or ethanol and (iii) bagasse and green foliage as an excellent fodder for animals, as biomass for gasification system, as organic fertilizer or for paper manufacturing. Moreover, sweet sorghum has a great tolerance to a wide range of climatic and soil conditions. It is a short duration crop of 110-130 days as compared to 12-18 months in sugarcane. In addition its water and fertilizer requirement is much less, resulting in lower cost of cultivation than sugarcane. Sweet sorghum is a plant with C4 photosynthetic pathway, so its photosynthetic rate and dry matter production in g/m 2 /day per unit of inputs are more than those of other sugar producing crops like sugarcane and sugarbeet. These characteristics make sweet sorghum an ideal crop for syrup and jaggery production. Existing sugar mills, small factories and „gurhals’ (jaggery-making units) running on sugarcane can be used during off-season for processing sweet sorghum (as it can be grown round the year as a supplementary feedstock) to make these units more economical. Like sugarcane syrup („kakvi‟ in Marathi), sweet sorghum syrup can be used as a liquid sweetener in various food products due to its excellent taste. It is a better source of calcium than honey. NARI has pioneered development of syrup and jaggery production from sweet sorghum in India. Sweet sorghum was introduced in India in early 1970s by NARI. Besides syrup production NARI also pioneered the production of ethanol from sweet sorghum. Consequently complete technology has been developed. „Madhura‟ - a sweet sorghum hybrid developed at NARI is recommended for round the year cultivation. It gives high quality grain and excellent fodder which can be fed to animals or used for producing natural, chemical-free, good quality, coloured syrup which at present is being marketed as „Madhura syrup‟. Its chemical composition compared to that of honey is given in Table 1.