Brownsugarexporter.com - When you add sweetness to your
morning cup of coffee, most likely you choose white, granulated sugar. You
could also use sugar in the raw or brown sugar, both products of sugar cane
purification. Sugar in the raw -- raw sugar -- is a light, golden brown crystal
that has a mild, caramel taste. Brown sugar is darker in color and stickier in
texture, and has a definite caramel taste.
Raw Sugar
When sugar
cane arrives from the fields, sugar millers grind and press it to extract the
sweet juices. Crystals that form in the liquid are granules called raw sugar.
After going through filtration and hot water washes, the sugar contains 96
percent sucrose and 4 percent of plant materials contained in the mother
liquid. Vacuum-drying this product leaves a golden brown color and sweet taste
but very little nutritional value, except for calories from the carbohydrate
content. The raw sugar can either go to the consumer or to the refinery for
further processing.
Molasses
After
filtering out plant trash and raw sugar crystals, millers slowly evaporate the
liquid, resulting in a rich, brown mixture called molasses. Molasses contains
46 percent dissolved sucrose and other sugars; 3 percent protein; small amounts
of minerals like calcium, phosphorous, magnesium and sulfur; trace elements
such as copper, iron, manganese and zinc; and B-vitamins. Molasses is used for
both human and animal consumption. Producers may also mix it with raw sugar to
facilitate transport to a refinery, or with white sugar to yield brown sugar.
White
Sugar
At the
refinery, the raw sugar and molasses mixture undergoes further washing with hot
water and separation through centrifugation and filtration. The naturally white
crystals that remain are 99.9 percent sucrose. This sugar can go to grinding
machines that produce different sizes of granules -- everything from crystals
to powders -- for use in household and commercial cooking and flavoring.
Brown
Sugar
Mixing
white sugar crystals with various amounts of molasses results in a soft, lumpy
product called brown sugar. The amount of molasses added depends on the
producer, but you could expect light brown sugar to contain 3.5 percent
molasses, while dark brown sugar might contain 6.5 percent molasses.Brown sugar
imparts the taste of molasses to recipes and adds moisture to make a softer
texture.
Considerations
Raw sugar
differs very little from white sugar, except that the crystals of raw sugar are
larger and have more color. In spite of trace amounts of minerals in molasses,
brown sugar contains only slightly more nutritive value than raw sugar because
the amounts added back are so small. The calories of raw sugar and brown sugar
are the same. Both raw sugar and brown sugar appeal to people and animals
because of the sweet taste and burst of caloric energy.(BD)