Abstract

MCGREGOR, B.A.. Quality attributes of commercial cashmere. S. Afr. j. anim. sci. [online]. 2004, vol.34, n.5, pp.137-140. ISSN 2221-4062.

Recent investigations into objectively measured attributes of commercial cashmere have differentiated cashmere produced in different regions of the world on the basis of cashmere fibre attributes. By plotting any two of mean fibre diameter, fibre curvature and resistance to compression, cashmere from different producing regions was segregated into distinct groupings. Australian cashmere had lower fibre curvature (P < 0.05) probably as a consequence of being longer. Improved feeding of cashmere goats produced longer and slightly coarser cashmere but with significantly lower fibre curvature (P < 0.05). The low resistance to compression of cashmere from new origins, mainly Australia, indicates that this cashmere is more compressible, ie is softer to handle, than cashmere from traditional sources. The composition of typical raw commercial Australian cashmere was determined as: guard hair 44.3%, cashmere 28.5%, moisture 17%, suint 4.2%, grease 3.0%, soil 2%, vegetable matter 0.9%, other impurities < 0.1%. The use of fibre curvature in the commercial trading of cashmere is discussed.

Keywords : Fibre curvature; softness; fibre diameter; impurities; nutrition; cashmere length.

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