ABSTRACT
Mauricio Durante-Almeida et al. (2006) identifi ed phenolic compounds in sugarcane juice and quantifi ed by analytical high performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC) and photodiode array detection, showing the predominance of flavones (apigenin, luteolin and tricin derivatives), among fl avonoids, and of hydroxycinnamic, caffeic and sinapic acids, among phenolic acids, representing a total content of around 160 mg/L. A tricin derivative was present in the highest proportion (>10% of the total). The phenolic extract obtained from sugarcane juice showed a protective effect against in vivo MeHgCl intoxication and potent inhibition of ex vivo lipoperoxidation of rat brain homogenates, indicating a potential use for benefi cial health effects and/or therapeutic applications. Further, Chandel et al. (2007) observed that sugarcane bagasse hydrolysis with 2.5% (v/v) HCl yielded 30.29 g/L total reducing sugars along with various fermentation inhibitors such as furans, phenolics and acetic acid. The acid hydrolysate when treated with anion exchange resin brought about maximum reduction in furans (63.4%) and total phenolics (75.8%). Treatment of hydrolysate with activated charcoal caused 38.7% and 57.5% reductions in furans and total phenolics, respectively. Laccase reduced total phenolics (77.5%) without affecting furans and acetic acid content in the hydrolysate. Fermentation of these hydrolysates with Candida shehatae NCIM 3501 showed maximum ethanol yield (0.48 g/g) from ion exchange treated hydrolysate, followed by activated charcoal (0.42 g/g), laccase (0.37 g/g), overliming (0.30 g/g) and neutralized hydrolysate (0.22 g/g).
