University of Illinois scientists test tropical maize, promising big potential yield gains for corn ethanol

Crop scientists at the University of Illinois are testing tropical maize, which lack lacks cobs and has few or no ears. Grown in the summer, tropical maize stalks store 25 percent or more of sugars in the form of sucrose, fructose and glucose instead of starch. This allows faster processing because fewer starches have to be converted into sugars for the ethanol distillation process to begin.

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