CANE SUGAR. 



writer has knowledge of cases where consignments of * molascuit ' completely 

 underwent this fermentation in transit between Demerara and London. 



Butyric Acid Fermentation. This fermentation is technically 

 of importance in the rum industry as the flavour of fine rum is by some 

 authorities believed to be intimately connected with its presence ; in cereal 

 distilleries it is considered most harmful, as not only does it decrease the 

 yield of alcohol but also forms objectionable products as butyric acid and 

 butyl alcohol. 



Viscous Fermentation. This term has now only an ill-defined 

 meaning, but occurs frequently in older writings on fermentation ; it is used 

 in reference to fermenting liquids becoming ropy or slimy, and was once not 

 an uncommon phenomenon ; in European distilleries this disease has been 

 associated with certain well-defined bacterial species ; in rum distilleries it is 

 not unknown and may often be traced to lack of cleanliness and to attempting 

 to work with too little or no bactericide.* 



Gumming. The 'gumming' of cane juices has been studied by Greig 

 Smith, 12 who found that this was due to a bacillus which he described and 

 named Bacillus levaniformans ; this organism is also one of several responsible 

 for the deterioration of sugars ; Lewton Brain and Deerr 13 isolated from 

 Hawaiian sugars several forms which also produced large quantities of gum ; 

 formerly this fermentation would have been classed as a * viscous fermentation.' 



LeuconostOC Mesenterioides. This organism, known as 'frog 

 spawn,' has the faculty of converting sugar solutions into a gelatinous, viscous 

 mass; it is a well-known type and has been reported from Europe and Java where 

 it has been the cause of blocking up pipes used for the conveyance of juices. 



Spontaneous Fermentation of Cane Juice. Watts and 

 Tempany 14 found that yeasts and an undetermined bacterium were concerned 

 in this process ; alcohol was produced by the yeast and acids by the bacterium, 

 of which about one third were volatile acids ; the fermentation was both aerobic 

 and anaerobic, and was inhibited by the presence of phenol indicating that already 

 formed enzymes do not play a very prominent part in the souring of juices. 



Spontaneous Combustion of Molasses. Crawley 15 has recorded 

 a case of molasses on storage becoming charred, the damage being supposed to 

 to have been initially due to micro-organisms ; consignments of ' molascuit , 

 have suffered a similar change on board ship. 



Nitric Fermentation of Molasses. In beet sugar factories the 

 after massecuites on storing sometimes show a nitric fermentation. A dense 

 red cloud of vapour due to the presence of nitrogen dioxide is observed to hang 

 over the massecuites; this is ascribed to decomposition of the potassium 

 nitrate present under the influence of bacteria, but really very little is known 

 on the subject. The writer is unaware of any similar phenomenon being 

 observed in cane sugar factories. 



* The use of bactericides in distilleries is explained in a subsequent section. 



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