Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum Linn.), pertaining to the Poaceae family, has been harvested worldwide for its economical and medicinal valued products.
Sugarcane contains fructose and glucose and remains the cheapest energy giving crop. The presence of the flavonoids, phenolic acids, and several other phenolic compounds in sugarcane, allows for an antioxidant activity of its syrup and juices.
The traditional growing cycle of sugar cane for production of sugar is from 12 to 18 months during which the following changes take place: an increase in stem relative to leaf; increase in concentration of total sugars in the juice; conversion of reducing sugars to sucrose; increasing lignification of the structural cell wall carbohydrates.
The fresh sugarcane culms are ground to obtain the refreshing sugarcane juice. It is highly nutritious, containing natural sugars, several minerals, vitamins, amino acids, organic acids, starch, phosphatides, and gums. Consuming 100 mL sugarcane releases, 40 kcal energy, 10 mg calcium, 1.1 mg iron, and 6 μg carotene in the body.
Potassium (K+) and chloride (Cl−) were the most abundant cation and anion in the sugarcane juice.
Sugarcane juice is obtained by grinding the sugarcane culms. Basically, it comprises of 70 - 75% water, 13 - 15% sucrose, and 10 - 15% fibre. Approximately 9.8% of sugars were present in juice, and most sugar was sucrose (9.6%). The fibre consists of 43.3% cellulose, 23.8% hemicellulose, and 21.7% lignin.
All the coloured components from sugarcane juice were classified into four major classes: Plant pigments, polyphenolic compounds, caramels, and degradation products of sugars condensed with amino derivatives.
Nutrient rich sugarcane
Nutrition is a science, a field of knowledge composed of organized facts. The study includes in areas, such as clinical nutrition, community nutrition, public health and food policy and food science. Nutrition too is a science of how the body use food. Nutrition is life. The science of nutrition helps us improve our food choices by identifying the amounts of nutrients we need, the best food sources of those nutrients, and the other components in foods that may be helpful or harmful.
Popular articles
-
Role of Sodium in Human Body The human body contains approximately 1.3 g of sodium . About a third is found in our bones. The rest is our b...
-
Nutrient Composition of Cereal Grains In composition, grains are structurally similar as seen; however, they vary in their nutrient composi...
-
Monosaccharides Monosaccharides are , as the name implies, the simplest of the carbohydrate. This classifications includes a series of alde...
-
In order to carry out its day to day physiological functions and maintain a constant body temperature (due to invariably in an environment o...
-
Water is the principle component (up to 80%) of the edible portions of seafood. Usually the oil and water content together total about 80%...