Sweet sorghum bagasse (Hunni green) was obtained from
sweet sorghum harvested after six months growth by the
Agricol Research Company in Potchefstroom, North West
province, South Africa (264103600S, 270503500E). The sweet
sorghum plants (whole plants) were transported on the same
day of harvest to a roller press and pressed to remove the
sugar rich juice from the stalks until no more liquid was obtained.
The plant material left after pressing was sun dried to
10% moisture content, milled and screened to a particle size of
1.5 mm. The dried plant material, referred to in this study as
sweet sorghum bagasse, was packed in air-tight bags and then
stored at room temperature until used in the experiments.
An initial compositional analysis of the sweet sorghum
bagasse used for experiments was done by the Agricultural
Research Council (ARC) e Analytical Services (Pretoria, RSA)
and the results are presented in Table 1.