Types of Sugar & Related Products

S. D. Borawake
Sugar Technology Dept
Sugar (sucrose) is a carbohydrate that occurs naturally in every fruit and
vegetable.
It is a major product of photosynthesis, the process by which plants
transform the sun's energy into food.
Sugar occurs in greatest quantities in sugarcane and sugar beets from which
it is separated for commercial use.
Sugarcane in India is used to make either sugar, khandsari or gur.
However, sugar products produced worldwide are divided into four basic
categories : granulated, brown, liquid sugar and invert sugar.
Granulated : Granulated sugar is the pure crystalline sucrose. It can be
classified into seven types of sugar based on the crystal size. Most of these
are used only by food processors and professional bakers.
Each crystal size provides unique functional characteristics that make the
sugar appropriate for the food processor's special need. The different types
of granulated sugar and their suitability for usage is as given in table below.
Type Usage Special characteristic
Regular sugar house hold use, food Easier for bulk handling, not
processing susceptible to caking
Fruit sugar dry mixes like gelatine uniformity of crystal size prevents
desserts, pudding separation or settling of smaller
mixes and drink mixes. crystals at the bottom of the box
Bakers special baking industry
Superfine sugar sweetening fruits and dissolves easily
iced-drinks
Confectioners or icings, confections and
Powdered Sugar whipping cream
Coarse sugar making of fondants, highly resistant to color change or
confections and liquors inversion at high temperatures
Sanding sugar to sprinkle on top of large crystals reflect light and give
baked goods the product a sparkling
appearance

Brown sugar: It is used in home and food industry to develop the rich
molasses type flavor in cookies, candies and similar products. It consists of
sugar crystals coated in a molasses syrup with natural flavor and color.
Many sugar refiners produce brown sugar by boiling a special molasses syrup
until the brown sugar crystals are formed. A centrifuge spins the crystals dry.
Some of the syrup remains giving the sugar its brown color and molasses

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flavor. Other manufacturers produce brown sugar by blending a special
molasses syrup with white sugar crystals.
Liquid sugar : Liquid sugars were developed before today's methods of
sugar processing made transport and handling granulated sugars practical.
Liquid sugar is essentially liquid granulated sugar and can be used in
products wherever dissolved granulated sugar might be used.
Invert sugar : Inversion or chemical breakdown of sucrose results in invert
sugar, an equal mixture of glucose and fructose. Available commercially only
in liquid form, invert sugar is sweeter than granulated sugar. It is used in
carbonated beverage industry and in food products to retard crystallization
of sugar and retain moisture.
Sugar produced in India is mainly of granulated type.
Granulated sugar is further classified in to various types based on color and
grain size.
Types of sugar and related products
 Barbados sugar : brown cane sugar .
 Barley sugar : no sugar, but an American hard, lemon-flavoured
candy that was originally made from barley water to which sugar had
been added.
 Beet sugar : white crystalline sugar (saccharose ) obtained from
sugar beets.
 Brown sugar : sugar to which is added a bit of molasses for flavour
and colour.
 Cane sugar : white crystalline sugar (saccharose ) obtained from
sugarcane. Sometimes sold as a type of brown sugar in Europe .
 Caramel : the products obtained by heating sugar. Brown-to black
substances with a pleasant aroma. Used as food colours and flavours.
 Castor sugar : Castor or caster sugar is the name of a very fine
granulated sugar in Britain, so named because the grains are small
enough to fit though a sugar "caster" or sprinkler. Because of its
fineness, it dissolves more quickly than regular white sugar, and so is
especially useful in meringues and cold liquids. It is not as fine as
powder sugar, which has been crushed mechanically (and generally
mixed with a little starch to keep it from clumping).
 Corn sugar : glucose obtained from corn.
 Crystal sugar : normal granulated cane or beet sugar, see
saccharose . Sold as grains or pressed into sugar cubes.
 Dextrose : English for glucose .
 Fructose (syn. levulose, fruit sugar) : a rather sweet sugar (1,7 times
as sweet as normal sugar), mainly found in fruits and honey .
 Galactose : a sugar which is not normally found in foods, except as
part of other sugars, such as lactose (milk sugar) and raffinose (a sugar
in beans). Often part of cell wall components in plants.
 Gelating sugar (syn. gelling sugar, jam sugar ) : mixture of
granulated sugar and pectin (E440, link). Used for making jellies and
marmelades.

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 Glucose (syn. dextrose) : a sugar found in many plants, also in blood.
The main source of energy for the body. Less sweet than saccharose .
 Granulated sugar : the normal small sugar crystals used at home.
 Grape sugar : synonym of glucose .
 Gula djawa : partially refined sugar from Indonesia . Made of cane
sugar or palm sugar .
 Gur (syn. jaggery) : partially refined sugar from India . Made of cane
sugar or palm sugar .
 HFCS : High Fructose Corn Syrup. A syrup obtained from corn starch.
The starch is first enzymatically degraded to glucose, which is then
converted enzymatically to the more sweet fructose . Used as a high
intensity sweetener.
 Honey : an 80% solution of sugars in water. Main sugars in honey are
fructose, glucose and saccharose.
 Icing sugar : powdered sugar used for icings on cakes.
 Invert sugar : Invert sugar is created by combining a sugar syrup with
a small amount of acid (such as cream of tartar or lemon juice) and
heating. This inverts, or breaks down, the saccharose into its two
components, glucose and fructose, thereby reducing the size of the
sugar crystals. Because of its fine crystal structure, invert sugar
produces a smoother product and is used in making candies such as
fondant, and some syrups. The process of making jams and jellies
automatically produces invert sugar by combining the natural acid in
the fruit with granulated sugar and heating the mixture.
 Jaggery (syn. gur) : partially refined sugar from India . Made of cane
sugar or palm sugar.
 Lactose : the sugar found in milk, a combination of galactose and
glucose .
 Levulose : synonym of fructose
 Malt sugar : see maltose.
 Maltose (syn. malt sugar) : the sugar found in malt and beer.
 Maple syrup : a syrup obtained from the North American maple tree.
It is a solution of 70% saccharose and glucose in water. Main
constituent is saccharose.
 Melis : a rather fine type of common table sugar. From Scandinavia .
 Milk sugar : see lactose
 Molasses : Brown by-products of the sugar production. Mainly
consisting of caramels and minerals. Used to make brown sugar .
 Muscovado sugar : dark brown sugar .
 Oligosaccharides : short-chain carbohydrates obtained from large
polysaccharides or by enzymatic processes. Many are present in plants
(beans, onion, garlic) or milk. Not or slightly sweet. Used as prebiotics,
not to sweeten products.
 Palm sugar : sugar obtained from dat e palms. Contains mainly
saccharose.
 Panela : see piloncillo

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 Panocha : see piloncillo
 Piloncillo (syn. panela, panocha): partially refined Mexican cane
sugar. It is pressed into a cone shape; the name means little pylon .
 Powdered sugar : Powdered granulated sugar, also known as
confectioner's sugar. It is crushed mechanically, so no crystals remain.
It is sometimes mixed with a little starch or anti-caking agent to keep it
from clumping.
 Rock sugar : not as sweet as regular granulated sugar, rock sugar
comes in the form of large clear, white or amber-coloured crystals.
Clear and white crystals are made by slow crystallisation from a
saturated sugar solution. White rock sugar has small cracks which
reflect the light, which results in a white colour. Amber coloured
crystals contain some caramel. It is less sweet, due to the presence of
water in the crystals.
 Saccharose (syn. sucrose, table sugar, crystal sugar) : the official
chemical name of the main type of sugar and the sugar used mainly in
products and at home.
 Sanding sugar : Sanding sugar is coarse sugar or decorating sugar.
The crystals are 4 times larger than those of regular granulated sugar.
It is used for decorating baked goods.
 Pearl sugar : see sanding sugar.
 Decorating sugar : see sanding sugar.
 Spun sugar : fine strands of hardened boiled sugar that are used to
decorate various desserts. Spun sugar begins by cooking sugar, water
and cream of tartar to the hard-crack stage. A fork or whisk is then
used to dip into the sugar syrup and draw out fine threads.
 Sucrose : English for saccharose.
 Sugar : normally used as a synonym for saccharose. Chemically
sugars are identical to carbohydrates.
 Superfine sugar : a type of sugar in the USA. A very fine granulated
sugar, see Castor sugar.
 Sweeteners : non carbohydrate sweet substances. Most are artificial,
but some are natural. Sweetness ranges from 0.8x the sweetness of
sugar (such as sorbitol) to 2000x (the protein thaumatin).
 Syrup : a thick viscous solution of sugars in water. Sugar content
ranging from 50-80%.
 Table sugar : normal granulated cane or beet sugar, see saccharose.
 Vanilla sugar : fragrant and flavourful sugar made by burying vanilla
pods (beans) in granulated sugar; usually in the proportion of two pods
for each pound of sugar. The mixture is stored in an airtight container
for about a week before the vanilla pod is removed. The result is a
delicious and aromatic sugar that can be used as an ingredient or
decoration for baked goods, fruit and other desserts. Vanilla pods may
be reused in this fashion for up to 6 months. Vanilla sugar can also be
made with pure vanillin instead of vanilla. The flavour is strongly

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 vanilla-like, but clearly distinct. This sugar should properly be named
vanillin-sugar .
Types of sugar
Among scientists sugars are simple carbohydrates that taste sweet. They
are split into two types, according to their chemical structure:
 Monosaccharides
These are the simplest sugars; they each have the same number
and types of atoms as each other, but they are arranged differently.
Fructose, glucose and galactose are the most common
monosaccharides which occur naturally in food.
 Disaccharides
These more complex sugars are formed when two monosaccharide
molecules join together, with the removal of one molecule of water.
They are less sweet than monosaccharides. Sucrose – or table sugar
– is a common disaccharide, made up of one glucose and one
fructose molecule.
Table of common sugars
Carbohydrate Type Main source in food Sweetness
Primarily fruitSweetest
Fructose Monosaccharide
also food additives monosaccharide
Fruits, vegetables,Medium sweet
Glucose Monosaccharide
grains monosaccharide
Least sweet
Galactose Monosaccharide Milk
monosaccharide
Disaccharide
Sugar caneSweetest
Sucrose (fructose +
Table sugar disaccharide
glucose)
Disaccharide
Medium sweet
Lactose (glucose +Diary products
disaccharide
galactose)
Disaccharide Germinating seeds
Least sweet
Maltose (glucose +Also added to
disaccharide
glucose) processed foods
Sports drinks
Less sweet than
Maltodextrin Glucose polymer Also added to
simple sugars
processed foods

Carbohydrates

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provides unique functional characteristics that make the sugar appropriate
for the food processor's special need.
"Regular" sugar, as it is known to consumers, is the sugar found in every
home's sugar bowl and most commonly used in home food preparation. It is
the white sugar called for in most cookbook recipes. The food processing
industry describes "regular" sugar as extra fine or fine sugar. It is the sugar
most used by food processors because of its fine crystals that are ideal for
bulk handling and are not susceptible to caking.

Fruit sugar is slightly finer than "regular" sugar and is used in dry mixes such
as gelatin desserts, pudding mixes and drink mixes. Fruit sugar has a more
uniform crystal size than "regular" sugar. The uniformity of crystal size
prevents separation or settling of smaller crystals to the bottom of the box,
an important quality in dry mixes and drink mixes.

Bakers Specials crystal size is even finer than that of fruit sugar. As its name
suggests, it was developed specially for the baking industry. Bakers Special
is used for sugaring doughnuts and cookies as well as in some commercial
cakes to produce fine crumb texture.

This sugar's all the types of granulated sugar. It is ideal for extra fine
textured cakes and meringues, as well as for sweetening fruits and iced-
drinks since it dissolves easily. In England, a sugar very similar to superfine
sugar is known crystal size is the finest of as caster or castor, named after
the type of shaker in which it is often packaged.

This sugar is granulated sugar ground to a smooth powder and then sifted. It
contains about 3% corn starch to prevent caking. Confectioners sugar is
available in three grades ground to different degrees of fineness. The
confectioners sugar available in supermarkets is the finest of the three and is
used in icings, confections and whipping cream. The other two types of
powdered sugar are used by industrial bakers.

crystal size of coarse sugar is larger The than that of "regular" sugar. Coarse
sugar is normally processed from the purest sugar liquor. This processing
method makes coarse sugar highly resistant to color change or Inversion
(natural breakdown to fructose and glucose) at high temperatures. These
characteristics are important in making fondants, confections and liquors.

There are many different types of granulated sugar. Most of these are used
only by food processors and professional bakers and are not available in the
supermarket. The types of granulated sugars differ in crystal size. Each
crystal size

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Sugar (sucrose) is a carbohydrate that occurs naturally in every fruit and
vegetable. It is a major product of photosynthesis, the process by which
plants transform the sun's energy into food. Sugar occurs in greatest
quantities in sugarcane and sugar beets from which it is separated for
commercial use. The natural sugar stored in the cane stalk or beet root is
separated from rest of the plant material through a process known as
refining.
SUGAR USES

Sugar, in one form or another, is essential for cooking. Baking wouldn't be

the art it is without the unique qualities of sugar. Sugar is a vital ingredient,
not only for adding sweetness and flavour, but also because it aids the
chemical reactions in baking. It can slow down the setting of a cake and
blend with butter to give height and lightness to baked goods.

Not many people realize the importance of sugar. Sugar is a natural

preservative and a meat tenderizer. Sugar lowers the freezing point of food -
without it, ice cream would freeze so solidly you couldn't eat it. Sugar helps
fruit release its natural juices and pectin in jam making, and adds sparkle to
vinaigrette dressings. Many of us wouldn't touch our daily bowl of cereal or
cup of coffee without a sprinkle of sugar.

Candy making used to be known as "the art of sugar boiling," because the
process depends on the dissolving, and re-crystallizing, of sugar. At different
temperatures sugar takes on different forms. Beautiful spun sugar, cotton
candy, caramel, toffee, brittle, fudge and blown sugar are just some of the
magical results obtained from the heating and processing of sugars.

As well as being essential for cooking, sugar gives us the energy to function.
In fact, by licking sugar maples in the spring, certain animals indulged in
"dessert" long before we did! Fruits and vegetables contain sugars, which is
why adding a pinch of granulated sugar actually enhances their existing
flavours, but doesn't add sweetness.