1114 Celina Ave. #17, Nashua, NH 03063 ● www.galaxy-scientific.com ● 603-821-9650
Introduction
Sugarcane was discovered in India between the 6th and 4th centuries BC by Persians. Today, sugarcane is
the world’s largest crop by production quantity. It is cultivated in more than 90 countries with Brazil, India
and China as the top three producers. For centuries, sugarcane has been cultivated to produce sugar.
Then its cultivation was expanded to produce liquors, and with today’s technology, use of sugarcane is
expanding into an extraordinarily diverse range of value-added products such as ethanol, bioelectricity
and bioplastics.
There are five major types of sugarcane alcohols: rum,
cachaça, rhum agricole, aguardiente, and basi. While rum is
made from molasses, a byproduct of sugar production, the
rest are made from sugarcane juice. Cachaça is made in Brazil
from fermented and distilled fresh sugar cane juice. Rhum
agricole is made in Caribbean countries, from fresh sugarcane
juice, which is fermented then distilled and aged.
Aguardiente is made in Ecuador, Colombia, and other Andean
countries. Basi, made in the Philippines and Guyana, is lightly
fermented.
To ensure quality and improve productivity, quality control tests are required for every stage of sugarcane
liquor production: e.g. test pol and Brix for molasses; test pol, Brix, sucrose and reducing sugars for
sugarcane juice; and test ethanol content for final liquor products. Traditional analytical methods used in
the sugarcane liquor industry are comparatively expensive, time-consuming, and usually require varied
methods to be used for different parameters. On the other hand, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has
the advantages of being nondestructive, rapid, and allowing for simultaneous measurements of multiple
components. Furthermore, with a calibrated instrument, the end user needs no special skill or
spectroscopy knowledge to run the test.
Use of FT-NIR Spectroscopy in
Sugarcane Liquor Industry
14 Celina Ave. #17, Nashua, NH 03063 ● www.galaxy-scientific.com ● 603-821-9650 2
FT-NIR Spectroscopy for the Sugarcane Liquor
Industry
Molasses
Molasses is a byproduct of the sugarcane milling
process and is usually very sticky and dark brown in
color. As shown below, it can be measured in
transflectance mode. The molasses sample is placed
in the disposable glass vial with a reflector, that has
a fixed gap in order to have a fixed optical path
length of measurement. Then the vial is placed on
top of the integrating sphere sampling window for
transflectance measurement.
Figure 1: Molasses sample in glass vial with inserted
transflector analyzed with QuasIR™ 4000
integrating sphere.
Parameters such as Pol, Brix, dry matter, sucrose,
and reducing sugars can be analyzed by FT-NIR
simultaneously.
Figure 2: Molasses Brix cross-validation result
(R2=92.20, RNSECV=0.33).
Sugarcane Juice
Sugarcane juice can be placed in an 8mm disposable
glass vial and analyzed in transmission at room
temperature (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Sugarcane juice in glass vial analyzed with
QuasIR™ 4000 sample compartment.
Parameters such as Pol, Brix, sucrose, and reducing
sugars can be analyzed by FT-NIR within seconds.
Figure 4: Sugarcane juice sucrose cross-validation
result (R2=95.08, RNSECV=0.32).
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Liquor Products
The ethanol content of final liquor products can be
accurately measured with FT-NIR. No sample
preparation is needed. Liquor can be transferred
into an 8mm glass vial and measured in
transmission. Within seconds, the ethanol
measurement can be obtained.
Figure 5: Rum ethanol proof cross-validation result
(R2=99.98, RNSECV=0.22).
Conclusion
FT-NIR provides a rapid, nondestructive method for
analyzing sugarcane for liquor and other sugarcane-
based products. Instantaneous results that are
comparable to traditional lab methods can be
obtained across a wide range of parameters.
Contact Galaxy Scientific’s experienced applications
support team for more information.
GS-A-Sugarcane Liquor-1.0EN