T 11 !•: c u r. A R E \- I E w 



Wax of the Sugar Cane^ 



Cheniically, the wax of the sugar cane 

 was examined as long ago as 1S4U b}- Ave- 

 quin, and an analysis of it was made by 

 the celebrated chemist Dumas. The mate- 

 rial for this examination was obtained by 

 carefully scraping the outside of the cane, 

 a process which is of course not applicable 

 on a large scale. The author of the pres- 

 ent treatise has therefore used another 

 method, starting from the so-called "lilter 

 dirt,'" a waste product of the Java sugar 

 industry. \\'hen the cane is crushed, and 

 subsequently extracted with hot water, 

 nearly all the epidermal wax passes into 

 the crude juice, where it remains sus- 

 pended, until the juice is purified by the 

 addition of lime and subsequent boiling, 

 when the wax is carried down in the pre- 

 cipitate formed. Thus on filtration the 

 wax is found in the so-called "filter dirt," 

 which remains in the filter press, and which 

 may contain 10 per cent or more of wax. 



By extracting fresh filter dirt with 

 ligroine Oight petroleum) a complicated 

 mixture is obtained, consisting mostly of 

 fats (gh-cerides of oleic and linolic acids), 

 and about 30 per cent of wax- If the filter 

 dirt has fermented for some time, the fats 

 have disappeared and the ligroine extract 

 consists mostly of the wax, which is more 

 resistant to bacterial action. The wax may 

 be separated from fats by crystallization 

 from ligroine, in which it is less soluble : 

 it then consists chiefly of m^-ric}! alcohol 

 and a substance of the formula CssHssO. 



The crude cane wax, thus obtained, melts 

 above 80 degrees and is still dark-colored. 

 It may be bleached b}" means of chlorine, 

 when it is. however, attacked to some ex- 



tent. The coloring matter may also be re- 

 moved by adding fuller's earth or a similar 

 substance to the melted or dissolved wax. 

 and allowing to settle. The product, refined 

 I)y this mechanical process, closely resem- 

 bles the valuable Carnauba wax, "obtained 

 from the Brazilian palm Copcrn'icia ceri- 

 fcra. It would appear that the latter wax 

 can be replaced in most cases by cane wax, 

 so that there ought to be a market for the 

 latter article. The author advises sugar 

 works to keep their filter dirt and let it 

 ferment, with a view to ultimate extraction. 

 The extraction of the crude material is be- 

 ing started in Java, where, it is calculated, 

 more than 4,000 tons of wax should an- 

 nually be obtainable. At present, it is im- 

 possible to estimate the commercial value 

 of cane wax with any degree of accuracy. 

 Since it is much harder than beeswax, and 

 closeh- resembles Carnauba wax, it is 

 thought that it might be almost as valu- 

 able as the latter article, which is worth at 

 least lid. per pound. The author esti- 

 mates the cost of producing refined cane 

 wax on the large scale at 2d. to 3d. per 

 pound. — Agricultural N^ezi-s. 



* From a review of INIr. A. Wijnberg's book 

 in Dutch on "The Wax of the Sugar Caue, 

 and the Possibilitj' of Its Technical Produc- 

 tion," by G. Barger, professor of chemistrv' at 

 the East London College, in the ivcic Bulletin. 



The book under review is a dissertation from 

 the newly founded botanical laboratory (Prof. 

 G. van Itersen) of the Technical High School 

 at Delft, and deals in an exhaustive manner 

 with the possibility of commercialh" utilizing the 

 wax coating of the sugar cane. In addition 

 there is an account of the chemistry and biological 

 significance of vegetable waxes in general. 



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