Lynne Wong's PhD thesis

in the presence of dry leaves, if cane quality is assessed by the above parameters, the
results will be over-estimated.
During the period under investigation, a survey carried out during three weeks at one of the
factories where the cane samples were collected showed 15.1% trash in cane and 18.4 %
fibre in cane. In the pre-mechanisation period of the 1970s when the cane was relatively
clean, fibre % cane at this factory was found to be 14.0% (Wong Sak Hoi and Autrey,
1998). The increase in fibre % cane is therefore 31.4%, corresponding to 15% increase in
wet trash. According to Table 2.13, the loss in sugar recovery alone at this trash level
amounts to 13.5% if the mill extraction parameters are kept unchanged.
Since the existence of Brix-free water in dry leaf has been proven, and its impact on cane
juice quality shown; it would be of interest to develop methods to separate the sugar cane
plant into fibres of its various components, and to determine their Brix-free water content.
The work undertaken to achieve this will be described in Chapters 3 and 4.
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