FERMENTATION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE SUGAR HOUSE. 



of the mixture varies from 1*060 to T063 ; to the wash is added sulphuric 

 acid and sulphate of ammonia in the proportions of 1 gallon and lOlbs. per 

 1000 gallons; the acid is added to prevent the growth of bacteria, especially 

 the 'butyric acid' forms; fermentation sets in rapidly, and is generally 

 complete in 48 hours; the density of the fermented wash varies from 1-015 

 to 1-025, and is governed by the amount of sugar present and the action 

 of the yeast ; in some distilleries ammonium bifluoride is used as a bactericide 

 in place of sulphuric acid. This simple process is the one that generally 

 obtains elsewhere. 



Mauritius. In this district only one sugar factory possesses or did possess 

 (1901) a distillery as an annex ; the process there followed is as under: A 

 barrel of about 50 gallons capacity is partly filled with molasses and water of 

 density I'lO and allowed to ferment spontaneously; sometimes a handful of 

 oats or rice is placed in this as a preliminary to fermentation. When attenuation 

 is nearly complete, more molasses are added until the contents of the cask are 

 again of density 1*10, then again allowed to ferment. This process is repeated 

 a third time ; the contents of the barrel are then distributed between three or four 

 tanks, holding each about 500 gallons of wash of density MO, and 12 hours 

 after fermentation has started here, one of these is used to pitch a tank of about 

 8000 gallons capacity ; a few gallons are left in the pitching tanks which are 

 again filled up with wash of density I'l, and the process repeated until 

 the attenuations fall off, when a fresh start is made. This process is very 

 similar to what obtains in grain distilleries save that the initial fermentation is 

 adventitious. 



Java. zi In Java and the East generally, a very different procedure is 

 followed. In the first place a material known as Java or Chinese yeast is pre- 

 pared from native formula. In Java, pieces of sugar cane are crushed along 

 with certain aromatic herbs, amongst which galanga and garlic are always 

 present, and the resulting extract made into a paste with rice meal ; the paste 

 is formed into strips, allowed to dry in the sun, and then macerated with water 

 and lemon juice ; the pulpy mass obtained after standing for three days is 

 separated from the water and made into small balls, rolled in rice straw and 

 allowed to dry ; these balls are known as Raggi or Java yeast. In the next 

 step rice is boiled and spread out in a layer on plantain leaves and sprinkled 

 over with Baggi, then packed in earthenware pots and left to stand for two 

 days, at the end of which period the rice is converted into a semi-liquid mass ; 

 this material is termed Tape/ and is used to excite fermentation in molasses 

 wash. The wash is set up at a density of 25 Balling and afterwards the 

 process is as usual. In this proceeding the starch in the rice is converted by 

 means of certain micro-organisms, Chlamydomucor oryzae, into sugar and then 

 forms a suitable habitat for the reproduction of yeasts, which are probably 

 present in the Raggi, but may find their way into the Tape/ from other sources. 

 About 100 Ibs. of rice are used to pitch 1000 gallons of wash. 



521 



