Sugar cane and cane sugar

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Nutrition, Health & Wellness

Sugarcane and cane sugar Sugarcane belongs to genus Saccharum, which are tall perennial grasses. Sugar cane is native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Asia and has fibrous, stout, jointed stalks.
It is found to grow from 2 to 6 meters in height and the stalks are rich in sugary juice. Sugar cane has been hybrid and many varieties have been evolved having greater yields of sugar. It is grown in more than 100 countries and about 1600 million metric tons of cane is produced all over the world.

About 50% of the world sugarcane production is from Brazil and India. In India crystallized sugar was mentioned more than 5000 years ago. During the 7th century, sugarcane was introduced to North Africa, West Asia, Middle East and Mediterranean regions. Portuguese and Andalusians (South Spain) introduced sugarcane to Americas.

Sugarcane requires tropical or temperate climate with sufficient rain fall and humidity. Though it produces seeds it is best propagated by stem cuttings to maintain hybrid vigor. At the processing plant the cane stalks are washed, chopped and shredded to smaller pieces. Cut sugarcane (image: by Rufino Uribe under cc-by-sa-2.0)
The shredded cane is repeatedly mixed with water and crushed between rollers to squeeze out the sugar juice. The solid wastes are called bagasse and are used as fuel. The juice is usually of 10-15 percent sucrose concentration and lime is added to it to increase pH to arrest fermentation and to precipitate suspended waste.

In multiple-effect evaporator, the clarified juice is concentrated to 60 percent sucrose syrup. Under vacuum this syrup is further concentrated for its supersaturation. This supersaturated syrup is seeded with sugar crystals and cooled to crystallize sugar from the syrup. By centrifuging the crystalline sucrose is separated from the molasses.

This process is repeated again and again to recover more sugar till no more crystals are forming. However the remnant molasses may still contain 20-30 percent sucrose and 25 percent glucose and fructose. The raw sucrose, which may appear yellow or brown is further refined to produce white crystalline cane sugar.

Sugar beet and beet sugar

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Nutrition, Health & Wellness

Beetroot and beet sugar Sugar beet or beetroot plant is a cultivated plant whose root and bulb contains a high concentration of sucrose. Sugar beet belong to Chenopodiaceae family and genus Beta and species vulgaris.
There are numerous cultivated varieties of this species including leafy vegetables like chard and spinach beet, root vegetables like sugarbeet and fodder-crops like mangelwurzel. Beet sugar is obtained from this plant and the European Union, Russia and the United States are three largest producers in the world.

In the world sugar production, beet sugar accounts for more than 30%. This plant is hardy and is a biennial plant cultivated widely in temperate regions of the world. In the first growing season, the plant produces large storage root and in the second growing season, the plant puts out flowers and seeds utilizing the stored nutrients in the tuber. For being useful for production of sucrose, the plant must be harvested by the end of first growth when it is full of sucrose. Sugarbeet
Plants tolerating tropical and sub-tropical weather have been developed and are being introduced in tropical areas. Though sugar beet was known to man for thousands of years, its history of use in production of sucrose is recent, dating back to 18th century. After harvest, the produce is hauled to processing plants.

At the processing plants the produce is washed well and mechanically cut into thin slices (called cossettes). Countercurrent exchange method is employed to extract sugar from the cossettes, and the raw juice is collected in storage tanks. The pulp is pressed in screw presses to extract some more sugary juice.

Then the impurities are precipitated and bacterial action is controlled by addition of lime water and passing of carbon dioxide. The supernatant fluid called thin fluid is evaporated to get thick fluid (60% sucrose). Then this fluid is crystallized by an elaborate process to get crystalline beet sugar.

Sugar substitutes and artificial sweeteners

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Nutrition, Health & Wellness

Sugar substitutes and artificial sweeteners Sugar (sucrose) substitutes usually have less calories than sucrose and duplicate its effects in sweet taste. These food additives can be from natural source or synthetic.
These man made synthetic sweetening products are usually termed as artificial sweeteners. Some of the sucrose substitutes are called as high-intensity sweeteners whose sweetness is many times that of sugar. These high-intensity sweeteners are required in smaller quantities for the sweetening effect than sucrose and contribute very less to energy.

However the sensation of sweetness given by these artificial products may differ from sugar and give different mouth-feel. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), United states, regulates their use as food additives. Six intensively-sweet sugar substitutes have been approved by the FDA for use as food additives. They are aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, neotame, saccharin, and stevia. Raw sugar(image by: Editor at Large)
The cost of these sweeteners in much less than that of sucrose and also smaller quantities are required for addition. With the tag of "diet" or "light" product, the food and beverage industry is presently promoting products with artificial sweeteners giving then greater profits. Aspartame and sucralose are the most popular artificial sweeteners in the United States sugar substitutes market.

Sugar substitutes-Reasons for use

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Nutrition, Health & Wellness

Sugar substitute use Sugar substitutes are being used for a number of health reasons. Most of the products are much cheaper than sugar.
In dental care sugar substitutes are tooth-friendly as they are not fermented by the dental plaque forming microscopic organism in the teeth. In weight management, they reduce the food energy intake (calorie intake), and help in losing weight. Persons affected by Diabetes mellitus have difficulty in their regulation of blood glucose.

They can help them in reducing the glucose spike in their blood levels. Persons with reactive hypoglycemia have insulin produced in excess after absorption of glucose into their blood stream.
A sugar substitute -sucralose structure
This may cause rapid fall of blood glucose leading to giddiness and impaired body functions. They should avoid high glycemic foods and the sugar substitutes help them in avoiding insulin spikes.