Evening star., 1942-04-22
Chemist Says Sugar
Production May Be
Doubled CheapIy
Greet Industry After
Wor Seen Possibility
BY Refinery Scientist
Nv THOMAS R- HENRY,
star staff Correspondent.

star E-&Al LD8FNApDnGeEf-
MEMPHIS. Tenn. April IL
World sugar production can be
doubled or trebled after the war.
Sugar 20 per cent pure can bs
turned out In unlimited quantities
for IN cents q pound and nearly
absolutely pure sugar for about 2I7
cents q pound.
The crop may be the foundation
of O great chemical industry In the
future.
These possibilities we're stressed
before the American Chemical So
cisty. meeting here today. by DR.
". Whitman Rice OF the National
Sugar Refining Co
Normal world production, he said.
now Is about 90, 900 900 tons annually
and taxes and Government restric-
tons operate almost universally to
increase the price far above the
actual cost of production in the
cheaper producing areas.
Used In Gasoline.
the possibilities for direct use
by the action OF chemical substances
on sugar as a base" he said, ARE
indicated by the present produc-
ton OF Sucrose octaacetate This is
an extremely bitter material having
little resemblance 10 the parent
substance II is largely used as a
denaturant for ethyl gasoline.
Large quantities of citric acid
with smaller quantities of other
acids and organic compounds. in
cluding ascorbic acid or vitanin c,
are produced from sugar by the
action of moulds and bacteria.
Products which may be obtained in
this way appear 10 be limitless.
Sugar easily breaks down into dex-
trose and levulose, two simpler forms
Of sugar, which both are converted
by common types of yeast into ethyl
alcohol, and with other types of
yeast under controlled conditions
butyl alcohol and glycerin can be
obtained.
"A considerable number OF other
products have been produced COM
mercially. Our commercial alcohol
supply during the last few years Of
fts vastly increased use has been
obtained almost entirely by the fer
mentation OF sugar, and IT In turn
has been the source of a multitude Of
ether products"
Light Dims Blackout Materials.
Misconceptions about luminescent
materials used for blackout signs
may cause serious accidents in an
emergency, the society was warned
by DR.. c. E. Barnett of the New
Jersey Zinc Co.
Moonlight, cloudy skies and other
Illumination cut down the brilliance
of many such materials, he said.
Bluish-green phosphorescent signs
are more difficult to read in dark
ness. while yellow or yellow-green
phosphorescent letters will be more
legible. even though appearing less
bright.
Many OF the phosphorescent ma
terials," he said, ARE advertised as
continuing to emit light for 48 hours
or more afer excitation. Although
this is true the light is quite low
and while 1t may seem ample in
complete darkness. 1t must be re-
membered that the visibility de-
pends on the contrast with light
from the environment"
There is increasing evidence, DR..
E. L. Howe of the PillSbury Flour
Mills Research Laboratory. Min
neapolis, told the chemical society,
that the low-income groups In the
United States suffer from q decided
zinc deficiency in their diets.
Small Amounts Required.
Hitherto this lack has not been
recognized. The amounts required
for a well-balanced diet are ex-
tremely small 1t is known, he said,
that traces of zinc are necessary
for plants but the requirements for
human beings and animals are
complicated There are some indi-
cations that a deficiency may cause
q condition akin to that caused by
gout.
White bread" he said, sis the
largest single item in the American
diet, During the milling of white
nour from whole wheat more than 80
per cent OF the zinc present in the
original grain goes into animal
feed by y-productS. Sugar Is another
large item in the American diet. 1t
contains no zinc at all. A third
large item consists OF fats such as
butter. lard and the vegetable oils.
They also contain very little zinc.
Milk and eggs are not especially
v1ch sources of zinc, but they do
furnish significant amounts and
are about equal to whole grains in
this respect. One-haf the zinc
content of the average American
diet Is derived from meat and meat
products.
When the average zinc contents
Of each item of the diet are added,
we find that the average American
diet contains about SO milligrams of
zinc for each 100 calorieS. The
human requirement has been es-
tablished by several scientific work
ers at .46 milligrams per 100 calo-
rieS. Thus the content OF the aver
age diet Is only IS per cent greater
than the known human require
ments. This means that there are
many people living on diets which
contain very little OF the zinc-rich
animal products and much more of
the zinc-poor fats. sugar and white
bread"