Sugarcane Biorefinery from Component Separation to High-Value Outputs: Technical Progress and Future Perspectives

As a major global sugar crop and lignocellulosic feedstock, sugarcane processing traditionally suffers from single-product dependency and low byproduct utilization, causing resource waste and environmental factors. To address this, the ‘sugarcane processing tree’ framework offers a pathway for full-component valorization. This review systematically summarizes the high-value utilization pathways for sugarcane juice, bagasse, and filter mud. Key quantitative insights reveal that the functional sugars offer high profitability due to premium market prices; bagasse pretreatment constitutes 40–50% of overall biorefinery costs; and crude wax recovery from filter mud stagnates at only 5–8%, limiting commercial scale-up. Current bottlenecks are characterized by low pretreatment efficiency, subpar strain performance, and high isolation costs. Future advancements must integrate coupled biorefining, synthetic biology, and standardized frameworks to spearhead the low-carbon, circular transition of the sugarcane industry for sustainable development.