The 2012 ASHS Annual Conference

Sunn hemp, Crotalaria juncea L. is a tropical legume grown primarily for fiber, cover cropping, and as a green manure crop with the potential to contribute to sustainability. Sunn hemp stems are potentially high sources of cellulose for the production of cellulosic ethanol. Sixteen sunn hemp accessions were grown in Griffin, GA, during 2008 and examined for stem glucose and stem dry weight. The data were subjected to an analysis of variance and cluster analysis. Significant variation for both glucose and stem dry weight were found among these 16 sunn hemp accessions. We found that the accessions, PI 250487, PI 337080, and PI 219717 were the highest producers of glucose averaging 813 mg/g per accession while PI 468956, PI 234771, and PI 322377 stems weighed the most averaging 234 g per accession. Cluster analysis separated sunn hemp accessions into four groups (clusters) based on very high, high, medium, and low concentrations of glucose. Some of these sunn hemp accessions could be used for the production of cellulosic ethanol as well as parents in a hybridization program for enhancing glucose and stem weight.