252 SORGHUM. 



WHITE LIBERIA^ CAXE JUICE. 



Per cent of juiee 65 00 



Spocitic gravity 1 .062 



Total solids.. . .'. per cent . . 15 67 



Glufose do 2 17 



f^iuTose by titration do 9.79 



Sucrose by polarization.. do 9 15 



Solids not'sugar.. do 3.51 



Containing— 



Alb\imen percent.. .13 



Aini<lo bodies, including ammonia salts do 37 



Kitrate of potash do 01 



Inorganic ash do 112 



Organic acids and fiber do 1 90 



The inorganic part of the juice consists of soluble silica, iron, lime, 

 magnesia, potash, phosphates, sulphates, chlorides, nitrates. 



All attempts to detect gum or any carbo-hydrates other than glucose 

 and .sucrose in the juice, before it has changed its character by stand- 

 ing, have failed. 



After the juice has been left to itself, with or Avithout the addition 

 of ferments, it undergoes certain changes. 



lu the first place, it deposits a white substance which, under the mi- 

 croscope, shows the organized structure of starch. The granules are, 

 however, much smaller than most starches, and do not give as deep a 

 blue color wnth iodine, the color fading out in a short time. On longer 

 standing, there collects a greenish precipitate on the surface of the 

 starch, containing fiber, albumen, and coloring matter. The super- 

 natant liquor, however, never becomes entirely clear. 



Duriog the course of from twenty -four to forty-eight hours in warm 

 weat'^er fermentation sets in, even with no addition of yeast. The pro- 

 ducts are not strictly those of the vinous fermentation, neither are they 

 entirely like the lactic. Much lactic acid is, however, formed, together 

 with a large amount of mannite and a smaller amount of alcohol, acetic 

 acid, glycerine, and succinic acid. The same thing takes placp even 

 when quite large quantities of yeast have been added to the juice. 



If the juice immediately on extraction is filtered through paper and 

 allowed to stand, the cellulosic fermentation sets in, and over night 

 white clots of cellulose, or a similar substance, settle out on the walls 

 of the containing vessel. What the products in solution are, under 

 these circumstances, has not been investigated. If the expressed juice 

 is immediately mixed with numerous slices of fresh cane and left to 

 itself, lactic fermentation is probably the form to be expected. The 

 same form of fermentaticm always occurs on adding slices of cane to a 

 pure sugar solution. If, however, to the juice suflScicnt slices of cane 

 are added to fill the vessel as nearly as possible w^ith them, then the 

 mucous fermentation takes place. After a few days the liquid becomes 

 sticky, and alcohol precipitates from it a ropy slime, not easily soluble 

 in water, and resembling the gum found ia many sorghum syrups. 



