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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