Brown sugar refers to sugar produced from sugarcane that retains some of the molasses, giving it its distinctive color and flavor.
Description of raw materials used in production.
- The primary raw material is sugarcane, a tropical plant that yields a sweet juice from which sugar is extracted.
Step-by-step summary of the industrial production process.
- Canes are cut and crushed to extract the juice.
- The juice is then boiled until sugar crystals form.
- The crystals are centrifuged to remove excess molasses, but some amount remains, giving the sugar its brown color.
- The sugar is then cooled and packaged.
Brown sugar has a granulated texture and a color that ranges from light brown to dark brown, depending on the amount of molasses content.
Sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum Linn.) is an important perennial plant of the Poaceae family.
The first world producer is Brazil followed by India.
Agricultural land with sugarcane plantation
Sugar cane juice is the raw material for the production of refined sugar and its wax is considered a potential substitute for the expensive carnauba wax, which is of cosmetic and pharmaceutical interest.
Refined sugar is the primary product of sugar cane juice, but during its processing, other valuable products are also obtained in raw form, such as cane sugar, molasses, and sago or sago. Sugarcane juice is widely used in India for the treatment of various diseases.
It has many interesting components, such as caffeic acid, cinnamic acid, chlorogenic acid, phenolic acid, hydroxycinnamic acid, synapic acid, apigenin, phenols, phytosterols, flavonoids, luteolin, policosanols, superior terpenoids (1).
Recently, as previously for fat and protein, there has been negative discussion about carbohydrate, including blaming it for the rise of obesity and related metabolic conditions, even though overconsumption and sedentary lifestyles are more defined contributors. In many parts of the world, natural sugar (sucrose) from sugar cane is the main dietary source of carbohydrate. Considerable misinformation about sugar is in the public domain with the average consumer being unaware of (i) the critical need of body cells, particularly brain cells, for sugar to function, (ii) the multitude of functionalities other than sweetening that sugar imparts, and (iii) micronutrients delivered with many sugar products (2).
Sugar cane studies
References________________________________________________
(1) Singh A, Lal UR, Mukhtar HM, Singh PS, Shah G, Dhawan RK. Phytochemical profile of sugarcane and its potential health aspects. Pharmacogn Rev. 2015 Jan-Jun;9(17):45-54. doi: 10.4103/0973-7847.156340. Review.
(2) Eggleston G J Positive Aspects of Cane Sugar and Sugar Cane Derived Products in Food and Nutrition. Agric Food Chem. 2018 Apr 25;66(16):4007-4012. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.7b05734.
Brown sugar 
