Editor: Rud Frik Madsen,
Message from the President
Message from the President The next session of our General Assembly occurs next year, and we must all be preparing for this, so as to be able to meet our commitments and deadlines.
The Referees should begin to summarise their work, and in particular should be starting to collect and interpret the data from the ring tests they have been organising over the last three years. I hope very much that the Reports written for presentation at the next session will not be a literature review of the analytical methods recently adopted by various authors, but will be a source of information on up to date methodologies for inclusion in the ICUMSA Methods Book.
The Associate Referees, and in particular those who have participated to some ring test, are requested to send to their Referees as soon as possible not only the results of their tests but also any suggestions they may have about matters which should be included in the final Report. It is necessary that all the Reports be ready by December 31, 2001 so that they can be sent to the National Committees in time for discussion to be held before the next Session. In this way delegates to the next Session will be well informed and able to participate actively in the debate at the Session.
The National Committees have to begin considering the question of candidates for office including the Presidency, Administrative Committee, Executive Committee, and Publication Committee. I hope to receive suggestions on this matter in good time for the Session so that we can identify persons available to serve our Commission over the next four years. I can now officially inform you that the 2000 Supplement of our ICUMSA Methods Book has been published and is being distributed by the editor of Zuckerindustrie at the price of 50 euro (60 euro with ring binder).
This Supplement contains 11 new Methods, 6 revised Methods, a Revised Specification and Standard and 2 rewritten Methods, as set out in the “Circular to Methods Book Owners” attached at the end of this message. I believe that our official distributor of the ICUMSA publications, Bartens Verlag, through Dr. Jurgen Bruhns, has provided excellent copy of these methods as well as making them available as ICUMSA publications on the web site www.bartens.com, furthermore, a leaflet has been prepared which can be obtained on request, and will be available at meetings of the various sugar organisations. I would like to sincerely thank warmly all the people who have contributed to the draft of the methods reported in the Supplement 2000, and in particular John Dutton, who has coordinated the whole work with great patience and expertise.
Thanks to our Webmaster we have been provided with a better typographical format and easier access to our web site www.unife.it/icumsa. Some o the malfunctions reported were due to time needed to restructure the website, but now it seems to be running well.
Any suggestion for further improvement will be welcome.
I would like to give you some information on the next 2002 General Assembly which, as you know, will be held in India. After carefully considering the various options proposed by our Indian friends, we have decided that the best option will be to hold the General Assembly in Pune in May-June 2002. In fact, as pointed out by Mr. Kumar: “Pune is a fascinating city with a healthy climate all year round. It is located in the Sahyadri Hills, near the west coast of India. The city, once the capital of Maratha Empire speaks of the indomitable spirit of the powerful Marathas and the great warrior king Shivaji. Today several Mumbay based companies are moving to Pune and it is gaining a new-found importance. Today, as cultural capital of Maharashtra, Pune is becoming with all corollaries of modernisation. In Pune, there are good 5-star hotels and a conference room for up to 500 delegates can be organised. Around Pune, there are lots of good sugar factories and visits to them can be organised. Vasantada Sugar Institute, (VSI), one of the premier institutes of India is also in Pune and visit to it can be organised. VSI, formerly known as the Deccan Sugar Institute, is an autonomous body established by the sugarcane grower members of co-operative sugar factories with an active and generous support of the Govt. of Maharashtra. It is the only organisation of its kind in the world. Pune is not connected with any international airline directly, however, there are a number of connecting daily flights from New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai etc. The weather during May in Pune will be 28-30°C maximum and 19-20°C minimum”. I will meet Mr. Kumar here in Ferrara next month to finalise the details, first of all, the exact date of the General Assembly so that we can avoid overlapping with other meetings such as SIT or SPRI to name but two.
Mr. Kumar has also informed me about some changes which have taken place inside the Indian National Committee: the retirement of Dr. Prasad and his replacement with Mr. Nigam either as the Director of the National Sugar Institute (NSI) of Kampur or as Referee of the Subject 5 – Dry Substance. I conclude my message thanking Mr. Wood who, as ICUMSA delegate, attended the IAM (Inter Agency Meeting).
CIRCULAR TO METHODS BOOK OWNERS
As was foreshadowed at the conception of the loose-leafed Methods Book, Supplements would be issued from time to time to: o add new methods, standards and specifications; o revise existing methods where necessary; and o rewrite methods to correct major errors.
This represents the Second Supplement to the 1994 Edition of the Methods Book, the first being issued in 1998, and this one comprises the following:
New Methods
GS1/2/3-2 The Determination of the Polarisation of Raw Sugar Without Wet Lead Clarification
GS1/2/3-4 The Determination of Glucose and Fructose in Raw and White Sugars Using High Performance Anion-Exchange Chromatography (HPAEC)
GS1-5 The Determination of Reducing Sugars in Cane Raw Sugar by the Luff-Schoorl Procedure
GS1-8 The Determination of Raw Sugar Solution Colour at pH 7.0 by the MOPS Method
GS1-10 The Determination of Ash in Raw Sugar by Single Sulphation GS2/3-10 The Determination of White Sugar Solution Colour
GS2/3-42 Sampling of Refined Sugar Products for Microbiological Analyses
GS4/8-19 The Determination of Raffinose in Beet Molasses by High Performance Anion-Exchange Chromatography (HPAEC)
GS4/8-21 The Determination of Betain in Beet Molasses by a High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) Method
GS8/4/6-4 The Determination of Glucose and Fructose in Beet Juices and Processing Products by an Enzymatic Method
GS8/4/6-14 The Determination of Acetic Acid in Beet Juices and Processing Products by an Enzymatic Method
These new Methods should be added to the Methods Book in the appropriate location shown in the new Index. Presently one ring binder will prove inadequate, so that a second will be required; this may be purchased from ICUMSA, c/o Verlag Dr A Bartens, Berlin.
Revised Methods
GS1-7(now GS1/3-7),
GS2/3-9,
GS2/7-33(now GS2/1/7-33),
GS2/3-35,
GS 3/4/7/8-11 and GS8/2/3/4-9
GS8/2/3/4-9
Revised Specifications and Standard
SPS-3
Rewritten Methods
GS1/3/7-3 and GS2-6
These revised and rewritten Methods and Specifications and Standard should replace the existing 1994 and 1998 versions in the Methods Book with the latter being discarded. The new Index, List of Contributors, Acknowledgements and Errata pages should also replace the 1998 versions with the latter being discarded.
Deleted Method
GS8-1 has been replaced by GS7/8/4-24 and the former should be discarded.
Editor: Rud Frik Madsen, Strandpromenaden 38, 4900 Nakskov,
Denmark – Phone:+45 54 92 1675; Fax: +45 54 95 1675; e-mail: rud@post5.tele.dk