Shine and color of sugar (photo). Production and quality assessment of sugar

The world around us has become so familiar that we often do not even notice the little things that make up our lives. For example, if you want to drink tea or coffee, we boldly take sugar to enhance the taste. But what is this substance? What color is sugar? Does it have a shine? After all, on the shelves in the store such a variety of this product. Much depends on the type of this product. If we talk about the color of crystalline sugar, it is white, but if it is reed, the variants may be different.

Important food product

There are several types of sucrose, which in everyday life is called sugar. It has a high nutritional value, since it is an easily digestible carbohydrate. Getting into the body, it splits into two components (fructose and glucose), and immediately gets into the blood. Thanks to this, a person is able to live, since glucose is the source of more than half of all the energy that the body needs during the day. But its concentration should not exceed the norm, because it can lead to serious diseases. Opposite action of glucose has a poisoning or some diseases of the liver. It has a beneficial effect on this organ, so it is sometimes injected directly into the vein. In many countries of the world, sugar is the main ingredient for the preparation of products in the confectionery industry. For example, caramel, meringue and dragees for 80-95% consist of this sweet substance, chocolate and sweets - by 50%, flour - by 30-40%. The color of the sugar can be different, it depends on what raw material it was made from and whether there was additional bleaching.

History of the discovery

India is home to everyone's favorite sugar. This word itself has ancient Indian roots, but it fell into the Russian language from Greek. The European discoverers of this product were the Romans. They bought it at home and drove to their land. Intermediary in such trade was Egypt, which at that time was a province of the Roman Empire. They made this product from sugar cane. At first the juice was extracted, and then, in the process of processing, sweet grains appeared. The color of the sugar that turned out was brown.

Over time, the Romans began to grow reeds in Southern Spain and Sicily, but with the collapse of their state, all production was stopped. In Russia, sugar first appeared in the XI-XII centuries. But only his chosen ones knew his taste, namely the prince and his retinue. Peter I decided that it was necessary to produce this product in his country and opened the first "sugar chamber" in the 18th century, but everything was not so simple. After all, raw materials still had to be imported from overseas countries. In 1809, a breakthrough was made in this area, as it was discovered that sugar can be extracted from the local root beet. Since then, this product does not come off the tables of all residents of Russia and the amount of its consumption is growing every year.

Brown sugar

As mentioned above, this kind of sweetness is made from reeds. The crystals are covered with molasses (fodder molasses), which is responsible for the color and smell of sugar. The technology is pretty simple (a syrup is made, and then it boils), but it has its own specifics. Varieties of brown sugar is quite a lot. They differ among themselves by the amount of molasses present in the crystals. Often because of specific shades, this species is called "coffee" or "tea". Manufacturers position this product as more elite and environmentally friendly, which increases its price. But nutritionists warn: due to the fact that sugar is not purified, it can contain unwanted impurities, and the caloric content of such a product is not lower than usual. Often, the right color of sugar is achieved by bleaching with carbonic acid or sulfur dioxide.

Manufacture of beets

The discoverer in this area is Andreas Margrave, who in 1747 published his work. It talked about the potential extraction of sugar from beet roots. He also described the order of this process, which has come down to our days. His student Achard tried to build a factory to make this sweet, but unsuccessfully. Only in 1806, according to Napoleon's instructions, the production process was established. He believed that this would help France become more independent and not depend on foreign imports.

The first plant for the production of this raw material in Russia was built in 1806, but the product obtained was suitable only for distillation into alcohol. And in 1897 across the country there were already 236 factories, which together produced up to 45 million poods of sugar per year. The technology of manufacturing this product from beets is as follows: by diffusion from the root crop, the syrup is removed, it is passed through the filters to separate the pulp, the liquid is heated to 60 degrees, while separating the excess water. Then the juice is cleaned with lime and carbonic acid. The resulting concentrate is evaporated until the appearance of crystals, is cured and placed in centrifuges, which separate the desired product from the molasses. The resulting material is dried and sugar is obtained with different concentrations of sucrose.

What color is sugar from beets allowed for sale? The correct answer is white, only a tinge of yellowness is likely.

Organoleptic properties

Organoleptic is a method that allows you to determine the quality of a product through the senses, namely vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Most often in Russia, sugar is produced in the form of sand. Experts, before allowing the sale of the produced product, assess the color of sugar, whether it has a shine, what it tastes like. Ideally, it should consist of identical in size and shape crystals, which have pronounced facets and shine. The smell and taste of both dry matter and its solution should be sweet, without any impurities. Dissolve in water, it must be completely, and the color of the water does not change. The color of the sugar is white, a slight yellow tint is possible. Mandatory property - flowability, without getting lumps.

Refined

Refined sugar is also called refined sugar in the form of pieces. It is made from the previously described sugar-sand. His properties are very similar to those of his "relative". Produce the product with another round of cleaning and recrystallization. This makes it even more concentrated. After it is sent to the press, which form whole bars, splitting into pieces. The color and gloss of sugar in this case should be white with a possible bluish tinge, without impurities, but there are no specific standards here. Taste and smell should also be without impurities, just sweet.

Maple Sugar

In addition to well-known varieties, there are several more that are also on the market. One of them is maple sugar. Its production began in the XVII century in eastern Canada. The raw material for it is the juice of sugar maple. In February and March, the trunks of this tree are drilled to produce fluid that begins to flow from the hole. It contains up to 3% sugar. The flow process continues for several weeks, which allows you to collect a fairly large amount of the desired juice. It is processed, namely, evaporation, resulting in a "maple syrup", and the final product is extracted from it. One tree a year can bring in 3 to 6 pounds of sugar.

Local people have long since switched over to this sweetener, forgetting about overseas options. Moreover, he is several times sweeter than usual. If we talk about what color the sugar should be, then we can say with certainty that it is brown, since maple syrup has such shades. In addition, this sweetener is very useful, since it is rich in B vitamins.

Palm sugar

In the south and south-east Asia produce another kind of sugar - palm, or the yagra. Different kinds of palms are suitable for this. On the young cobs of flowering trees, cuts are made, from which the sweet juice flows. Often, for such a production, it is coconut palm that is chosen, but also a good harvest can be collected from arenas or a date tree. For a year, one plant extracts up to 250 kg of juice, the concentration of sucrose in which reaches 20%. If the workers know how to properly care for a tree, then you can use it for many years.

Just like in other technologies, evaporation is used here, but it is made in the coconut shell, which gives the product a semi-circular shape. It is used to a greater extent by the producers themselves, that is, the locals. If you are wondering what color the sugar produced in this way has, then it can be answered that it is brown. If you add it to tea or coffee, it will make the drink not just sweet, but also give it an unrivaled flavor.

Sorghum sugar

Already in ancient China, there was a practice of extracting a sweetener from sorghum. During the civil war in the United States, Britain blocked the supply of cane sugar to the northern states. This led to the spread of a different species, namely sorghum. But after these events, production was never established, because from the point of view of raw material this plant is quite inconvenient. And the difficulty is that the resulting juice is rich not only with sucrose, but also with a variety of mineral salts that prevent the formation of pure crystals. But in regions where the drought lasts most of the year, sorghum can be a very worthy substitute for other sources of sugar. Moreover, special machines or mechanisms are not required for its cultivation. On the shelves of the store this product is very difficult to find, but remember that the color of sugar should be amber. More often it is sold as a syrup.

Thus, sugar is a substance that has densely entered our life. In order to determine its quality, experts pay attention to such indicators as taste, shape, odor and color of sugar. Photos of its various types can be found on the pages of magazines about proper nutrition. This will help you choose a better product. Also, remember that the color of salt and sugar is significantly different: the salt is pure white, and the sugar can have a shade of yellow or even be brown, depending on the species.