Sugar 101: A Background on This Sweetener and Where to Avail One in the Philippines

Introduction

Cakes, ice cream, pudding, cotton candy, and cookies—aside from being desserts, they all have one thing in common: sugar.

After all, one of the most common methods to sweeten food and beverages is to add sugar. In fact, this substance is abundant since it is naturally present in many foods, including milk, fruits, and vegetables.

It’s also found in bread and other baked products, cereals, flavored yogurt, sweetened drinks, and sauces. However, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is essential to consume them in moderation.

What is Sugar?

Sugar is a naturally occurring substance that has always been present in the human diet. It is a kind of carbohydrate and a caloric, sweet-tasting component found in various foods. It also ranges in sweetness intensity, starting from the mild sweetness of fructose to the more extreme taste of fructose.

Aside from its primary role as a sweetener, sugar is added to foods for a variety of reasons, including:

1. 1. 1. Contributing to the color and taste development of a meal
      2. Giving baked products, preserves, and jams body, mass, or volume
      3. Adding to the creaminess of frozen desserts and the lightness of pastry goods
      4. Improving the flavor profile by interacting with other food items
      5. Balancing the bitterness of other food types
      6. Producing fermented foods such as pickles and yeast-leavened bread

The Global History of Sugar

Sugar is derived from the Sanskrit term “śarkarā,” which implies crushed or candied sugar and was once more than simply something sweet. It is one of the earliest documented commodities in the world and has been used as a medicine, a spice, and a regal emblem throughout history. In fact, sugar was once so valuable and scarce that all available supplies were kept in a sugar safe.

While chewing sugarcane was most likely done in the old times due to its sweet flavor, sugar’s history goes back to approximately 8,000 BC when sugarcane from the Polynesian region was sent all over the world. With advancements in production and processing, this became a truly worldwide crop.

Around 600 AD, crystallized sugar was discovered in Roman and Greek medical archives and was used to cure indigestion and stomach problems. It was also used for the first time in India during the Gupta period. This type of sugar usage and application entered Persia and expanded over Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean.

The History of Sugar in the Philippines

The history of sugar in the Philippines began thousands of years before the Spanish colonialism, when merchant Arab Persian vessels from the Celebes transported sugarcane cuttings to Mindanao. Sugarcane farming by local people eventually extended further north to the Visayan Islands and Central Luzon.

Under the Spanish regime, the encomienda system was implemented. In this setup, large swaths of land were awarded to the Filipino elite, who became huge sugar plantation owners or hacienderos, millers, dealers, and exporters in Iloilo and Negros.

In the 1570s, sugarcane was first cultivated in Bulacan, Cebu, Pampanga, Laguna, and Pangasinan. Since then, the sugarcane in the Philippines has been one of the country’s principal crops, as well as the primary source of centrifugal or refined sugar.

How is Sugar Made?

Farmers harvest either sugar beets or sugarcane, and the sugar is processed and refined to ensure consistency and quality. Each plant’s sugar purification process is similar, and the end outcome is the same pure sucrose.

The main distinction between the two is that sugar beet is refined in a single facility, whereas sugarcane is processed at a raw sugar plant before being refined.

As part of the sugar beet processing, the harvested sugar beet will be cleaned, cut, and soaked in order to extract the juice and separate it from the plant material. The contaminants and excess color from the juice will be eliminated to make the sugar syrup.

After that, the sugar will be crystallized from the sugar syrup and centrifuged to eliminate the excess liquid. The sugar crystals will be dried and packed before they are distributed.

Meanwhile, the harvested sugarcane will be crushed, steeped, and squeezed to extract the plant’s juice during sugarcane processing. After that, the juice will be heated until it thickens and crystallizes. The crystals will be spun in a centrifuge to remove the liquid and yield raw sugar.

It’s important to remember that raw sugar is a byproduct of sugarcane processing. Because it includes molasses and other contaminants, it is still not fit for human consumption.

The raw sugar will be transferred to a refinery to be purified of contaminants and will be heated and filtered to make sugar syrup. The sugar will be crystallized from the syrup and dried before being packed for sugar distribution.