The aim was to assess the harvesting methods and the time when sugar cane can remain in the field without losses in the quality of the raw material for industrial processing. The experiment was installed in the farm Espírito Santo belonging to Companhia Usina São João, located in the Mata paraibana Zone. Three forms of harvest (CF) were carried out: FC-1 refers to sugar cane in natura; FC-2 refers to sugar cane which has undergone a burning process; FC-3 refers to sugar cane that went through the burning process and was cut off certain hours after burning (0, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, 108 and 120 hours). The samples were analysed at the Cana Paying Laboratory for the sucrose content (LPCTS) of Companhia Usina São João. The technological parameters of sugar cane that have been analysed are: Soluble solids – °Brix (%), sucrose content – Pol (%), Industrial fibra (%), Purity (%) and Totais-reducing sugars (ART kg/t). The best behaviour was checked at CF-1, with superiority in parameters, °Brix (%), Pol (%), Purity (%), ATR and lower behaviour in the PB parameter (%). The best time between harvesting and processing for the CF-1 and CF-2 harvest forms is 36 hours.