Please cite this article in press as: Cosentino, S.L., et al., Saccharum spontaneum L. ssp. aegyptiacum (Willd.) Hack. a poten- tial perennial grass for biomass production in marginal land in semi-arid Mediterranean environment. Ind. Crops Prod. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2015.04.043 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model INDCRO-8029; No. of Pages 10 Industrial Crops and Products xxx (2015) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Industrial Crops and Products jo ur nal home p age: www.elsevier.com/locate/indcrop Saccharum spontaneum L. ssp. aegyptiacum (Willd.) Hack. a potential perennial grass for biomass production in marginal land in semi-arid Mediterranean environment Salvatore Luciano Cosentino, Venera Copani, Giorgio Testa, Danilo Scordia ∗ Dipartmento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente – Di3A, University of Catania, via Valdisavoia 5, 95123 Catania, Italy a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 12 January 2015 Received in revised form 16 April 2015 Accepted 20 April 2015 Available online xxx Keywords: Saccharum Mediterranean environment Marginal land Perennial grass Biomass yield Water use efficiency Crop physiology Biomass quality a b s t r a c t Research is needed to look for plants or lines that can thrive on soils affected by water deficit or other constraints. The present work investigated the potentiality of Saccharum spontaneum L. spp. aegyptiacum (Willd.) Hack., a lignocellulosic, perennial, rhizomatous, no-food crop in semi-arid Mediterranean area. A 3-year field trial was carried out with the aim to evaluate its physiology, biomass yield, water use efficiency, and biomass quality under different soil water availability. During 2011/2012, 2012/2013, and 2013/2014 growing seasons (hereinafter referred as 2011, 2012, and 2013, respectively), three levels of maximum evapotranspiration restitution (ETm) were compared: I 100 (100% ETm restitution), I 50 (50% ETm restitution), and I 0 (rainfed condition). Net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate were strictly related to the avail- able soil water content (ASWC), with maximum gas exchange at field capacity. However, gas exchange between plants and atmosphere was also measured when ASWC was close to wilting point. Biomass dry matter (DM) yield and main morpho-biometric traits (e.g., stem height and basal stem diameter) were significantly affected by ASWC. A non-linear model showed that maximum DM yield, 37.86 Mg ha −1 , can be achieved when 1150 mm of water were used by the crop. Water use efficiency (WUE) was always highest in rainfed condition (I 0 ), however, only in 2013 I 0 was significantly higher than I 50 and I 100 (5.89 g L −1 vs 4.26 and 3.33 g L −1 ). Within the variables employed, a linear model showed that WUE was negatively related to crop water use (CWU). The fiber content was not affected by the irrigation treatments. In the average, hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin accounted for 23.9 (% w/w), 35.0 (% w/w), and 19.9 (% w/w), respectively. On the other hand, moisture and ash content, bulk density, low heating value, and ash melting point resulted significantly affected by the treatment. Present results suggested that S. spontaneum spp. aegyptiacum possesses a range of agronomically desir- able traits of biomass crop: C4 plant, high biomass yield, active assimilation rates during drought–stress periods, able to use water efficiently, and satisfactory biomass quality. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Serious concerns have been expressed over the cultivation of energy crops in arable lands. The main reason would be the compe- tition for land with food crops, reducing the land area of cultivation and causing land use change (Cosentino et al., 2014a). It is repeat- edly debating to cultivate energy crops in marginal lands, for example, in land that is not currently used with other crops. It is worth to note, however, that marginal land has not an unique ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 95 234 496; fax: +39 95 234 449. E-mail address: dscordia@unict.it (D. Scordia). definition and might change over region and time (Lewis and Kelly, 2014). From an agronomic point of view marginal or unused lands in Mediterranean area are those mainly affected by severe drought, slope, and salinity conditions. It is expected that perennial rhi- zomatous grasses might have greater tolerance when grown on less productive soils, since they require limited soil management and lower demand for nutrient input than annual crops (Zegada- Lizarazu et al., 2010; Fernando et al., 2010; Rettenmaier et al., 2010). Amongst perennial grasses, C 4 photosynthetic pathway are able to use abiotic resources, mainly water, more efficiently than C 3 plants (Long, 1999). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2015.04.043 0926-6690/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.