POSTER SUMMARY ASSESSING THE PROCESSABILITY OF SUGARCANE VARIETIES BARKER B, DAVIS SB and LOUBSER RC Sugar Milling Research Institute, c/o University of KwaZulu Natal, Howard College Campus, Durban, 4041, South Africa bbarker@smri.org sdavis@smri.org rloubser@smri.org Abstract The Sugar Milling Research Institute (SMRI) is developing methods to characterise the processability of sugarcane, particularly pre-release varieties from the South African Sugarcane Research Institute’s (SASRI) breeding programme. The pith/fibre ratio and colour are presently used to characterise the processability of sugarcane; however, further parameters are required to obtain a better understanding of how a particular variety would behave during processing, particularly in the front end of the factory. A number of methods have been investigated; these include the use of a stereomicroscope to identify pith and fibre, an impact test method and a percolation test method. Each method is described and test results obtained on selected varieties are given. The suitability and feasibility of each of the different methods is discussed. Keywords: pith/fibre, sugarcane, varieties, impact, percolation Introduction The processability of sugarcane is a measure of how easily that cane can be processed in the factory. In the past some varieties of cane have been linked with processing problems such as flooding in diffusers, slippage in dewatering mills, high bagasse moistures and unsuitable mud preparation for filtration. It is believed that softer, high pith or very brittle cane is the cause of the problems (Barker, 2008). However, harder varieties can also pose processing problems such as difficulty in cane preparation, which can lead to high pol in bagasse and reduced extraction (Barker, 2008). The development of methods to evaluate the processing quality of cane is important as this has the potential of highlighting problematic varieties before they are released. The SMRI is developing tools that may be used to characterise cane varieties based on their processing quality, some of which are discussed in this poster. Experimental All cane samples used in the experiments were from pre-release variety trials from SASRI. Ten stalks of each of six different varieties were selected randomly from each plot, with each variety having three replicates (plots). Four different methods of predicting the processability of sugarcane have been investigated, as described below. Pith/fibre ratio The pith/fibre ratio is the ratio of pith to all fibre. Higher pith/fibre ratios and higher percentages of small fibres will indicate a softer or more brittle cane variety. The method, which is currently used to measure the processability of pre-release sugarcane varieties, is Barker B et al Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass (2009) 82: 350 - 353