Results of composition analysis of non-grain part of major field crops in Ukraine

In recent decades, the share of plant raw materials in the production of solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels has increased significantly. One of the promising sources of bio raw materials, the efficiency of which can be increased, is the non-grain part of the crops of agricultural plants. Today, the main crops in Ukraine, as in most Eastern European countries, are corn, wheat, sunflower, barley, soybeans and rapeseed. The total share of production of all other crops of the agricultural sector of Ukraine does not exceed 2%. The efficiency of further use of the non-grain part of the crop of these cultures significantly depends on the content of the main macro components - cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, which varies depending on the plant species. Using standardized methods of laboratory tests, a chemical analysis of the parameters and composition of the non-grain part of these most common crops was performed in this study. According to the obtained results the highest content of water-soluble substances was observed in the non-grain part of corn (19.8%) and sunflower (16.1%); cellulose in barley (50.0%), soybeans (46.9%) and wheat (46.5%); hemicellulose in sunflower (43.5%), soybeans (36.3%) and rapeseed (35.5%); lignin in barley (24.2%) and rapeseed (16.7%). The results of lignocellulosic biomass composition analysis in terms of lignin content and ash content do not coincide with the common conclusions that samples with a lower lignin content also have a lower ash content. Thus, the highest ash rates are in sunflower (14.7%), corn (9.0%) and rapeseed (8.0%), while the lowest are in soybeans (4.4%) and wheat (6.5%). The highest total content of cellulose and hemicellulose makes the non-grain part of legumes soybeans (83.2%) and rapeseed (79.2%), which allowed us to make preliminary conclusions about the higher value of these crops for further use in biofuel technologies.