Fundamental Biochemical and Biotechnological Principles of Biomass Growth and Use 13
Table 1.13World consumption of major vegetable
oil (2007/2008) (USDA, 2009) and carbon content
(75% average assumed).
Oil
(million tons)
Ccontent
(million tons)
Palm oil 41.31 30.98
Soybean oil 41.28 30.96
Rapeseed oil 18.24 13.68
Sunflower seed oil 9.91 7.43
Peanut oil 4.82 3.62
Cottonseed oil 4.99 3.74
Palm kernel oil 4.85 3.64
Coconut oil 3.48 2.61
Olive oil 2.84 2.13
1.3.2 Sugar Crops
Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is a multiannual grass, which deposits sucrose
(70–88%), glucose (2–4%), and fructose (2–4%) in its stalks. Stalks contain 73–76%
water and 24–27% solid materials of which 10–16% are soluble. This soluble fraction
contains the sugar. It is extracted by repeated chopping, shredding, and washing the
stalks. Processed stalks (bagasse) consist of 40–60% cellulose, 20–30% hemicellulose,
and 20% lignin. Today bagasse is burned to produce heat and power for the sugar mill.
Sugarcane can be harvested up to 10 times before replanting. Up to 10 tons sugar per
hectare is produced. Sugarcane is especially grown in Brazil and India (Table 1.14).
Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) is a biennial beet, which accumulates about 20% sucrose
in its root. Water content of the beet is about 75–78%. Nine tons of sugar is produced
perhectareofsugarbeet.Beetleavescanbeusedasfeed.ItiscultivatedinEuropeand
Russia.
Table 1.14The biggest sugar producers,
production volume (2012) (USDA, 2013), and
carbon content (43% C in sucrose assumed).
Country
Production
(million tons)
Ccontent
(million tons)
Brazil 38.6 16.6
India 27.4 11.8
Europe 15.6 67
China 14.0 6.0
Thailand 9.9 4.3
United States 8.2 3.5
Mexico 6.6 2.8
Russia 5.0 2.2
