Abstract

Samples of four Romney fleeces were dried to 8% moisture immediately after harvesting, then water was added to achieve moisture contents of 8, 19, 30, 41 or 52% of the clean, dry wool weight. Additional samples were left untreated (11 % moisture) or scoured (16% moisture). CIE X, Y, Z and Y-Z measures of scoured wool colour were recorded after 0, 5, 12, 21 or 33 days storage at 3 or 20° C. There was no change in colour values of untreated and scoured samples during storage at 3 or 20° C. X, Y and Z values decreased linearly when moisture content increased (P<0.05), the effect being most marked at 20°C. A trend for Y-Z values to increase with moisture content was not significant. The findings indicate that if damp greasy wool is to be stored for a month or more before colour is measured, it should be dried at 30°C or less before storage, stored at cool temperatures, or scoured and dried before storage.

AR, Bray, D O'Connell, and MC Smith

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 59, , 49-51, 1999