Sugarcane ripeners

Used industrially as a plasticizer, vinyl stabilizer, grease additive, color inhibitor for resins, and as a chemical intermediate for insecticides. Used in agriculture to ripen sugarcane. 

Some casual observers have suggested that, because such a diverse array of chemical structures effectively ripens sugarcane,... 

Amyl acid phosphate Saccharin sodium anhydrous Saccharin sodium dihydrate accelerator, ripening sugarcane Glyoxalic acid accelerator, rubber Aniline 2-Benzothiazyl-N,N-diethylthiocarbamyl sulfide 2-Benzothiazyl-N-morpholine disulfide Benzyl chloride 1,3-Bis (2-benzothiazolylmercaptomethyl) urea Butyl 2-benzothiazole sulfenamide n-Butyraldehyde Cadmium... 

Ripening Agent. A new potential use for vanillin is as a ripening agent to increase the yield of sucrose in sugarcane by the treatment of the cane crop a few weeks before harvest. 

Vanillin itself has some bacteriostatic properties and therefore has been used in formulations to treat dermatitis. Hydrazones of vanillin have been shown to have a herbicidal action similar lo that of 2.4-D, and the zinc salts of dithiovanillic acid. A new potential use for vanillin is as a ripening agent to increase the yield of sucrose in sugarcane by the treatment of the cane crop a few weeks before harvest... 

One of the most important developments in recent years has been the use of chemicals as ripeners in sugarcane. Work begun in Hawaii in the early 1960 s has shown that a surprising number of chemicals increase the sucrose content of cane at harvest. 

The first material seriously considered as a candidate ripener for increasing sugar yields was the dimethylamine salt of 2,3,6-trichlorobenzoic acid. However, because of a number of technical, environmental, and legal proglems, this material did not prove successful commercially. Nevertheless, it served as a standard for comparison in screening tests aimed at finding better sugarcane ripeners. 

N-(Phosphonomethyl) glycine. This material, closely related chemically and probably biologically to Polaris, has been given the generic name of glyphosate. As the isopropylamine salt, it is the very potent herbicide Roundup which is especially active on grasses. It has been tested as the isopropylamine salt, as the acid, and in several other forms as a ripener on sugarcane and was found to be extremely active—in fact, much more active than Polaris itself. 

Arsenic. Dime thy larsenic acid (cacodylic acid), an organic arsenical herbicide, and its sodium salt were found to have considerable activity, both together and individually, in the ripening of sugarcane in preliminary screening tests. No advanced work has been done yet with these materials. 

Many furans and tetrahydrofurans were found to have exciting activity as ripeners for sugarcane. Among these, especially good results were obtained with tetrahydrofuroic acid hydrazide. 

Isoaureomycin. Because of its known activity as a plant growth stimulator (20), isochlorotetracycline (isoaureomycin) was tested early in this program and was found to have considerable activity as a sugarcane ripener. Unfortunately, its cost was too high to make it competitive as a commercial product. 

Table I. Antimicrobial Compounds Grouped According to Ripening Effects on Sugarcane (22)...

Bacitracin. This polypeptide antibiotic and its zinc salt were both found to have considerable activity as sugarcane ripening agents. Efforts are now being made to obtain material in a form usable for agricultural purposes so that advanced block testing can be carried out. 

Nickell, L. G., Tanimoto, T. T., Effects of Chemicals on Ripening of Sugarcane, 1965 Repts. Haw. Sugar Technol., 152-166. 

Nickell, L. G., Chemical Ripeners for Sugarcane (Proc. Subsurface and Drip. Irr. Seminar) Univ. Haw. Coop. Ext. Serv. Misc. Publ. (1973) 102, 42. 

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