The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-09-24
Chemists Perfect Process Of
Protecting Raw Product From
Mold and Bacteria.
PREY ON SWEETENING FACTOR
At Least $500, 900 Worth Of Sugar
Destroyed Yearly by Tiny, Greedy
900, 900 Pounds
Is Estimate.

Chicago, Hl.-More sugar Will be
available for everybody through the
discovery of a process of keeping il
from being injured by molds and bac-
terra.
Fully n per cent of the Cuban
crop. or about 7O,OO0,OO0 pounds OF
sugar a year ANA worth at least $1,000
GOO IL is estimated, has been destroyed
~ tac tiny, greedy organisms which
compete with the sweet tooth of man
kind. AS the per capita consumption
o. sugar in the United States is APP
p|roNiuately Sl.Sl pounds annually the
amount hitherto consumed by the
S13,OO0 persons for a twelve month
period. This would keep the sugar
bowls of IA large city full. Counting
each family as five persons, 10000 Of
such groups could be kept sweet tenn
percd during this period from the
supply which has been wasted by the
invisible hordeS.
Mr.. Nicholas KopclOff and Mrs. Lii
Liam Kopeloff, bacterioIogist and as
SiStant bacteriOlOgiSt at the Louisiana
sugar experiment station in New Or
leans, and members of the American
Chemical society, have just completed
Il bulletin on the method of prevent
ing the moldS and bacteria from wreSt-
ing sweet solace of the beet and cane
from mortalS.
Loses Sweetness.
Sugar loses its sweetness because
molds the sucrOSe, which is
It's SWeetening factor. Although the
amOunt thus lost may be only II frac-
ton of n per cent, and far too slight
to be detected by the senses Of taste
or smell in many cases, it is easily
determined by the polariscope, an in
strument especially designed for
measuring the amount of SucrOSe pres
ent. When sugar deteriorateS not
only does the polariscOpe detect the
differences, but anyone who is suffi-
GENTLY obSeryant will note that il will
actually take Il larger spoonful 10 give
the same sWeetening power. Thus, if
a barrel of raw sugar should be kept
through the summer months and 1t
is infected with harmful m~icrO-Organ-
ismS, it might be necessary to use an
extra tablespoonful at the end of the
power that could be obtained before
deterioration took place. AS all sugar
is sold strictly on the pOlariscOpic ba-
sis, even small losses aggregate huge
sums.
The usual source Of these mOlds is
the air, which contains millions of mi
-CrO-Organisms at rest and in circula-
ton. Each individual mold, if it falls
on an object which can supply it with
sufficient food, such as sugar, can re-
produce 100000 more individuals of
the same species in less than a week.
This reproduction, however, can only
take place in the presence of sufficient
moisture, otherwise the organisms lie
dormant. Cane sugar primarily I'M
dergoes such losses by deterioration
in transportation or storage. mainly
due to the absorption of moisture by
sugar in damp weather or humid eli
mates.
For example, sugars made in Cuba
are stored in the hold of n vessel.
often with insufficient ventilation.
which causes them TO Sweat" While
coming from a tropical climate into
cooler water the moisture condenses
on the surface of the sugar. This
also occurs when sugar is stored for
any length Of time, especially at high
temperature, as in retineries, where
scme is melted up ut once and the re-