Sugars: Nutritive Value, Properties of sugar, Types of sugars.

Use in Cookery,
Manufacturing of sugar.

Sweeteners have been used in food since prehistoric times, probably beginning with the
discovery of honey. Desire for sweet taste is an inherent quality in every individual. Sugar and
jaggery are used in beverages and other foods to increase palatability.

NUTRITIVE VALUE:

Sugar provides only energy to the body. Therefore, foods that contain relatively large
amounts of sugar generally have low nutrient density – proportionately less protein, minerals and
vitamins. Sugar is a pure carbohydrate in nature. Carbohydrates are energy giving substances. It
is an easily digestible source of energy. Besides providing energy the other function of sugar in
the diet is to provide sweetness. This plays an important role in the diet of young children.

Nutritive value of sugar per 100g

Energy K.Cal Carbohydrate g Calcium mg Iron mg

Sugar 398 99.4 12 0.15
Jaggery 383 95.0 80 2.64

Honey 319 79.5 5 0.69

Molasses which contains the natural ash of the plant juice from which it is made, furnishes
some nutrients other than carbohydrate such as a small amount of calcium and iron.

PROPERTIES:

1. Solubility: It is highly soluble in water. During heating more amount of sugar is dissolved.

2. Absorption of moisture Sugars are hygroscopic. Fructose is more hygroscopic than the other
sugars.

3. Fermentation: Most sugars, except lactose, can be fermented by yeast to produce carbon
dioxide gas and alcohol. This is an important reaction in making bread and other baked products.
The carbon dioxide leavens the product and the alcohol volatilises during baking.

4. Acid hydrolysis: Sucrose is easily hydrolysed by acid but maltose and lactose are slowly
acted on. Heat accelerates the action of acid.

5. Enzyme hydrolysis: The enzyme sucrase also called invertase is used in the candy industry to
hydrolyse some of the sucrose in cream fondants. This is done to produce soft semi-fluid centres
in chocolates. The enzyme is commonly added to the fondant layer around the fruit in
chocolate-coated cherries.
6. Melting point and decomposition by heat: With the application of sufficient dry heat, sugar
melts or changes to a liquid state. Heating beyond the melting point brings about a number of
decomposition changes. As sucrose melts around 1600C, a clear liquid forms that gradually
changes to a brown colour with continued heating. At about 1700C Caramelization occurs with
the development of a characteristic caramel flavour along with the brown colour.

Caramelization is complex reaction, involving the removal of water and eventual

polymerisation. It has a pungent taste, often bitter and much less sweet than the original sugar
from which it is produced. It is non-crystalline and soluble in water. Fructose caramelises at
1100C, maltose caramelises at about 1800C and galactose at 1700C.

Granulated sugar caramelises on heated in a heavy pan. When hot liquid is added, the
caramelised sugar dissolves and can be used as flavouring substance to puddings, custards, ice
creams, cakes and sauces.

7. Decomposition by alkalis: The monosaccharaides are markedly decomposed by alkalis and

flavour may become strong and bitter. Sucrose is least affected by alkalis.

8. Sweetness: Of the sugars, lactose is the least sweet, followed by maltose, galactose, glucose
and sucrose with fructose being the sweetest. A maximum sweetness from fructose is most likely
to be achieved when it is used with slightly acid, cold foods and in beverages.

TYPES OF SUGAR

There are different varieties of sugar and sugar products in the market. Usually they are used for
special purposes in the food preparations.

1. RAW SUGAR
● Sucrose that contains natural molasses
● Raw sugar has nutritional value because it has the same vitamin and mineral content as sugarcane
juice (phosphorus, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, thiamine, and riboflavin)
● Brown color is due to the presence of molasses.

2. REFINED SUGAR
● Highly processed sugar.
● Raw sugar is refined with chemicals to bleach the dark colour and to remove impurities
● Offers no nutritional value-only empty calories.
● Elevates blood sugar levels and cause diabetes.
● Not a healthy choice.

3. WHITE SUGAR
● Manufacturing is similar to raw sugar making.
● The lime treated cane juice is treated with high SO₂ or CO₂.
● Heavy sulphitation and carbonation produces white product.
4. COARSE SUGAR
● Coarse sugar has much larger crystals than regular white sugar.
● Large crystal size makes the sugar stronger and more resistant to color change or inversion at
cooking and baking temperatures.
● Used in making fondants, confections and liquors.

5. CASTER/BAKERS SUGAR
● It is superfine granulated white sugar.
● Fine crystals dissolve much quicker than standard granulated white sugar
● It is specially developed for the baking industry
● Used for sugaring the doughnuts and cookies.

6. POWDERED SUGAR
● It is also called 10x sugar.
● It is refined sugar grounded to fine powder and sifted.
● To prevent clumping a small amount of corn starch is blended.
● It is easily dissolved in liquid and ideal for icing, confections and in whipping cream for
decorating baked goods.

7. DIAMOND SUGAR
● It is decorative sugar, appears as small rectangular crystals.
● Used in betel nuts and confectionary.

8. ROCK SUGAR
● Rock sugar is made by boiling sucrose solution to a syrup consistency (110°C-115°C) and
pouring it into big trays.
● Due to slow evaporation, sugar syrup forms big slabs with a few lumps on top.
● These are broken into big pieces and used on festive occasions.

9. CUBE SUGAR
● Sugar cubes are made from refined sugar
● Granulated sugar is moistened with white sugar syrup and moulded into cubes and then dried in
that shape.
● Cubes are convenient for sweetening tea or coffee.

10. BROWN SUGAR

● Brown sugar is produced by the addition of various amounts of molasses to refined white sugar or
partially refined sugar.
● It comes in different brown colors depending on the amount of molasses that has been added.
● Brown sugar is not the same as raw sugar and not a healthy choice.

Sugars, their characteristics and uses:

S.N Type Characteristics Uses
o
1 Castor Fine white crystals Bakery
2 Granulated Crystals of medium size Sweetening agent
3 Cube Crystals compressed to cubes Tea service

4 Icing Fine powder with or without starch Cake icings

5 Golden syrup Processed to yellow syrup Cooking and baking

confectionery
6 Molasses Dark by-product of sugar Cooking and
confectionery
7 Diamond sugar Small rectangular crystals Used with beetle nuts,
confectionery
8 Rock sugar Big slabs Used on festive occasions
9 Brown sugar Contains molasses, glucose and fructose, Baked products.
has pleasing and distinctive flavour.
10 Sugar powder Pulverised granulated sugar Doughnuts, hard puris

11 Jaggery Solid light golden coloured, soft and dark Sweets preparation
coloured
SUGAR COOKERY:

Testing the doneness of sugar mixtures by measuring the temperature of the boiling
solution is a method of estimating the concentration of sugar in the mixture. The final
concentration of sugar is related, in general to the consistency of the product when it is
completely prepared the more concentrated the sugar solution, the firmer the consistency of the
finished product.

Stages of sugar cookery:

0 0
Product C F Doneness Description of test
Syrup 110-112 230-234 Thread Syrup spins a 2 –inch thread between
gulbjamun, thumb and first finger.
jelabi
Fondant 112-115 234-240 Soft ball Syrup when dropped in cold water
Fudge forms ball that flattens on removal
from water.
Boondi laddoo 118-120 244-248 Firm ball Syrup when dropped into very cold
water forms a ball that does not
flatten on removal from water.
Divinity 121-130 250-256 Hard ball Syrup when dropped into very cold
Marshmallows water forms a ball that is hard enough
to hold its shape.
Butterscotch 132-143 270-290 Soft crack Syrup when dropped into very cold
Toffees water, threads that are hard but not
brittle.
Brittle Glaze 149-154 300-310 Hard Crack Syrup when dropped into very cold
water threads that is hard and brittle.

Barley Sugar 160 320 Clear Liquid Sugar liquefies.

Caramel peanut 170 338 Brown liquid Liquid becomes brown

brittle
 SUGAR MANUFACTURING

Sugar is a sweet, soluble carbohydrate (Mono, di- and poly-saccharides). The sugar mostly used
as food is sucrose - disaccharide: glucose + fructose, obtained from plants - sugarcane & sugar
beets.
Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra together share 66 % of sugar production. The making of sugar
from sugarcane started from India as gur. Globally most sugar is extracted from sugarcane (80%)
and Sugar beet (20%) which are rich in sucrose - Sugar Content. Mature beets contain 17% sugar
by weight and mature cane: 15 to 20%.

Harvesting

Cane preparation for milling

Milling

Clarification

Filtration

Evaporation

Crystallization

Centrifugation

Drying

Refining

Separation and packaging

SUGAR MANUFACTURING FLOW CHART

 SUGAR CANE CULTIVATION -
Botanical Name: Saccharum officinarum
Sugarcane plants: Perennial grasses
• Family: Poaceae
• Grow as tall, narrow stalks.

Planting - Row planting method, Sugarcane seedlings, Ring pit method and Sugarcane planter
are different types of planting methods used for cultivation. Healthy sugar cane plants are
selected and sugarcane stems are split into foot-long pieces, dug in the furrows and moistened
sugar cane is planted & fertilized with nitrogen.

Growing conditions - Tropical and subtropical plant requires warm weather for maturity.
● Water requirement: Plenty
● Temperature: 21°C to 28°C, Average rainfall: 150 cm.
● Heavy sunshine is required to produce high sugar content in cane.
● Grows well in alluvial and light-clay soil-Moist and good drainage.
● Valuable crop - Requires large amount of fertilizers to increase the yield.
● Sugarcane cultivation needs sufficient capital and labour.

Harvesting - Sugarcane takes 10-18 months for yielding (between June – December). Sugarcane
when harvested has a height of 3-4 metres. When fully matured it is harvested by hand/
mechanically.
i. HAND HARVESTING - Hand harvesting is done in two ways-
Field is set on fire. Fire burns dry leaves, and chases away snakes without harming stalks and roots
using cane knives crop is cut just above ground level. Skilled harvester can cut 500kg of sugarcane
per hour.
ii. MECHANICAL HARVESTING - Sugarcane harvester harvest and partially process sugarcane.
Sugarcane harvester cuts cane at the base of the stalk, strip the leaves, chops the cane into consistent
lengths called as billets and load into a truck. After harvesting, the stubble left behind grows new
shoots, producing a "ratoon" crop with a Capacity of 100 long tons/hour.

Ratooning - Ancient method of propagating sugarcane in which the part of cane left
underground after harvesting give rise to a new crop stand, which is referred to as the ratoon or
the stubble crop.

Transporting - Cane must be quickly processed after harvesting the crop as sugarcane starts to
lose its sugar content and mechanical damage to cane during harvesting accelerates spoilage.
Sugar cane is transported to the sugar industries by the help of various means of road transport
like - Truck, Tractor and Animals.

Cane weighing - Cane is weighed on large platform scale using an electronic weigh bridge in the
transport unit in which it is received at the mill.

Shredding - Shredder is used to remove leaves, nodes and undesired solid particles from cane by
manually or by using Hammer mill shredder.
Cleaning/Washing – Cleaning is done to remove unwanted soil and rocks where washing is
done to remove dirt and dust those are sticked to the sugarcane surface. Canes are cleaned by
flooding warm water or by spreading the cane on agitating conveyors that pass through strong
jets of water and combing drums.

Cutting of canes - Size reduction is done to aid cane crushing. Cane is cut into small pieces by
cutting manually using cane knives or mechanically by using electrically operated equipment
with cutting blades.

Crushing - Canes are crushed to break the hard structure by using revolving knives the cane is
cut into chips or using shredders the cane is teared into shreds.

Extractions of sugar cane juice - Two methods of extraction are used Milling or Diffusion.

i. MILLING - The cane is passed through two sets of revolving knives that cuts the stalks into
pieces. The cane pieces enter mills consists of rollers, where extraction of juice takes place. In the
best mills 95% of sugar goes in to the juice. It consists of three rollers arranged in triangular
form and connected in series Top roller, Feed roller and Discharge roller. Every set of
mill is called Tandem mill. For better extraction - imbibition water or thin juice is added
at each mill. The pulp that remains - bagasse.

ii. DIFFUSION - Process of extracting the juice from the cane with the use of imbibition water
without squeezing by mills. Shredded cane is introduced into the diffuser at the feed end. Hot
water is poured over the shredded cane. Hot water percolates through the cane bed and removes
sucrose from the cane. Dilute juice is collected into a compartment under the bed and pumped
back to percolate through the bed. The process is repeated 12 to 15 times to increase the sucrose
concentration.

USE OF BAGASSE:
● Dried and stored in bagasse storage.
● Substrate for biofuel production.
● Used as fuel to generate steam.
● Steam is used for -Generating electricity.

Clarification - The juice is strained to remove particles before sending it for process. The dark
green juice from mills is acidic and turbid. The process employed to remove both soluble and
insoluble impurities, neutralizing the natural acidity of juice, removal of albumin, waxes and
gums. The entire thing goes to continuous clarifier where mud separates from clear juice by
sedimentation. Chemical clarification is done by using Phosphoric acid, Lime, Carbon dioxide
and Sulphur dioxide. These chemicals are mixed with agitator. Suspended and colloidal particles
collect as flocs and settle down. Clear juice comes out to the upper section of clarifier; sludge
and mud are collected at the bottom and drained to rotary filter.

● Calcium phosphate: flocculent, increases settling rate and clarity

● Lime: to increase pH to 7 which prevent decay of sucrose into glucose and fructose.
 ● Carbon dioxide: in lime forms calcium carbonate - attracts non-sugar debris (fats, gums and
wax) from the juice.
● Sulphur dioxide: bleaching agent.

Filtration - Mud from clarifier contain some residual juice. Mud is filtered in rotary vacuum
filters to extract residual juice. Filter consists of rotating drum covered with perforated metal
plate. Hot water is added to the mud to increase filtration efficiency. End product contains
clarified juice and press mud- byproduct.

Uses of press mud:

● Industrial waste available from the sugar mills.
● For every 100 tons of sugarcane crushed about 3 tons of press mud is left behind as by-product.
● Used as an organic fertilizer.

Evaporation - Removal of water from the sugar solution to obtain super saturated thick solution.
The clarified juice in which precipitated impurities are removed contains 85% water.
Concentration of juice increases from 15° brix to 65° brix. Juice is preheated to around
107-110°C. Then steam at 113-130°C is used to evaporate juice - 1 liter steam is required to
evaporate 4 liter juice. The syrup contains 60% sucrose by weight at the end. Two types of
vacuum evaporators - Single effect evaporators & multiple effect evaporators are used. This
syrup goes to crystallisation unit.

Crystallisation - It is the Process of recovery of the solute (crystals) from the solvent. Solid
crystals are formed from the solution. Crystallization is obtained through the variation of the
solubility conditions of the solute in the solvent. Process consists of 3 major events – Clustering
- Solute molecules dispersed in the solvent start to gather into clusters, Nucleation - Clusters
attach, Crystal Growth - Growth-increase in crystal size. Crystallisation takes place in single
effect vacuum pans, where the syrup is evaporated until saturated with sugar. Brix is increased
from 65° to 75° by boiling at 60°C. The concentration reaches to 78%-80%. At this point ‘seed
grain’ is added to serve as nuclei for the sugar crystals and more syrup is added as the water
evaporates. Continuing the above process the pans are filled up till the desired size crystals are
built up and dropped in mixers called crystallisers. The sugar and syrup form a dense mass
known as ‘massecuites’.

Syrup is boiled at low temperature (60°C) under partial vacuum.

Seeding’s (sugar crystals suspended in alcohol) are introduced.

Sucrose deposits around the seed.

Crystals grow in size.

Outcome is called massecuite

Sugar crystals and molasses are then separated in centrifuge

 Massecuite - Mixture of raw sugar crystals and mother liquor (molasses) formed after boiling
the syrup for crystallization.

Centrifuging - The massecuites from crystallisers where sugar deposits on crystals due to
cooling is drawn into revolving machines operates at 1000-1800 rpm called centrifugals. The
cylindrical basket suspended on a spindle has perforated sides, linked with wire cloth inside of
which are metal sheets containing 400 to 600 perforations per square inch. The basket revolves at
a speed varying from 1000 to 1800 revolutions per minute depending on the grade of massecuite.
The perforated liners retain the sugar crystals which are washed with hot water. The mother
liquor called molasses passes through the lining due to centrifugal force exerted. The sugar drops
when machine is stopped. Sugar is subjected to hot and cooled air treatment in the conveyor to
remove moisture and high temperature. It is graded in a grader as per ISI specification, weighed
and bagged.

Re boiling of liquid & Drying - The wet raw sugar from the centrifuge goes to large cylindrical
rotatory drier to remove the water and reduce the moisture content to 0.5-2% using hot air at
80°C. Sugar is continuously tumbled in large cylindrical dryers.
The aim of sugar boiling is to remove more sugar and send less purity of molasses as by-product.
In short the molasses travels in forward direction to remove more sugar from molasses and sugar
travels in the backward direction to be converted into high grade sugar.

Refining - Refining process includes

i. Purification- raw sugar is transported to a cane sugar refinery for the removal of molasses, minerals
and other non- sugars, which contaminate the sugar.
ii. Affination - Performed to loosen the molasses from outer layer of raw sugar crystals. Raw
sugar is mixed with a solution of sugar and water at 50°c. It melts the outer layer of the raw
sugar crystals and produces a thick substance called magma. Later centrifuged in large
machines to remove magma. Spinning separates molasses from the crystals. Crystals are
washed, dissolved and filtered to remove impurities.
iii. Decolorizing - The golden syrup produced is sent through filters to remove the color and
water. Decolorizing is done using granular activated carbon (GAC) and ion exchange resin
leaving concentrated clear syrup which is again fed into a vacuum pan.
iv. Evaporation and crystallization-sugar syrup is evaporated under vacuum to obtain super
saturation and then centrifuged to get refined sugar crystals.
v. Separation and Packaging - After final evaporation and drying, screens separate different
sizes of sugar crystals. Large and small crystals are packaged, labelled and shipped as white,
refined sugar. The packaging material should be opaque, airtight, moisture resistant and odor
free.
Questions:
1. Write about properties of sugar (5m)
2. What are different types of sugar available in the market(5m)
3. Write a note on manufacture or processing of sugar (10m)