Document Type : Original Article
Authors
- Ali Farahmandi 1
- Mojtaba Naderi-Boldaji 2
- Maral Ajamian 3
- Mahdi Ghasemi-Varnamkhasti 2
- Saman Abdanan 4
1 Department of Mechanical Engineering of Biosystems, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahrekord University
2 Shahrekord University
3 Khuzestan Sugarcane and By-products Development Research and Training Institude, Ahvaz, Iran
4 Khuzestan University of Agricultural sciences and natural resources
Abstract
Sugarcane is an important crop in sugar production in the country widely produced in Khuzestan province. After harvesting the sugarcane in the field and when delivered to the sugar factory, the cane is shredded. In this study, the dielectric spectroscopy technique in the frequency range of 0-100 MHz was evaluated for measurement of sucrose concentration in shredded cane using a cylindrical parallel-plate sensor with compaction of the shredded cane. Fifty five samples of shredded cane were taken from the sugar production line of Salman Farsi factory during the harvesting season of 2021-2022 and their reference properties including sugar concentration with three indicators of Brix using refractometry method, Pol using simple polarimetry method and the sucrose measured using double polarimetry were measured. The samples were subjected to dielectric spectroscopy using the capacitance sensor and the dielectric spectra were analyzed for sugar concentration prediction. Multivariate regression analyses of partial least-sugare regresseion (PLSR), principal component regression (PCR) and support vector regression were applied for development of prediction models of sugar concentration variables. Validation of the prediction model of PLSR showed a stronger prediction of sucrose (R2= 0.79, RMSE= 0.89, RPD= 2.22) measured using the double-polarimetry as compared to Pol (R2= 0.76, RMSE= 0.8, RPD= 2.07) and Brix (R2= 0.77, RMSE= 0.89, RPD= 2). This result was explained with higher number of OH groups of sucrose molecule as compared to the other sugars existing in the sugarcane juice and the dominant effect of sucrose on the dielectric characteristics of the juice.
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