Muscovado is a type of partially refined to unrefined

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

with a strong

molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

content and flavour, and dark brown in colour. It is technically considered either a non-centrifugal cane sugar or a centrifuged, partially refined sugar according to the process used by the manufacturer. Muscovado contains higher levels of various minerals than processed white sugar, and is considered by some to be healthier.''Education World: The Human Development Magazine''. 2004. Volume 6, Issues 7-12, p.78
/ref>Souvenir, Silver Jubilee Celebrations and 22nd Annual Convention, Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers, 29-31 Oct. 1985 Held at Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, pp.116
/ref> Its main uses are in food and confectionery, and the manufacture of rum and other forms of alcohol. The largest producer and consumer of muscovado is India.

Terminology

The English name "muscovado" is derived from a corruption of Portuguese ' (unrefined sugar). The

Indian English Indian English (IE) is a group of English dialects spoken in the republic of India and among the Indian diaspora. English is used by the Indian government for communication, along with Hindi, as enshrined in the Constitution of India. E ...

names for this type of sugar are ''khandsari'' and ''khand'' (sometimes spelled ''khaand''). There is no legal definition of muscovado, and no international standards for it such as ''

Codex Alimentarius The Codex Alimentarius () is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines, and other recommendations published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations relating to food, food production ...

'' or ''

Protected Designation of Origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...

''. This has led to manufacturers calling various sugar products "muscovado", and has led to confusion between muscovado and brown sugar, and even with

jaggery Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can ...

History

The earliest known production of crystalline sugar began in northern India, after the introduction of

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

Austronesian Austronesian may refer to: *The Austronesian languages *The historical Austronesian peoples The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, M ...

traders from

Island Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Sout ...

at around 1000 BCE. However, the exact date of the first cane sugar production is unclear. The earliest evidence of sugar production comes from ancient Sanskrit and Pali texts. Around the 8th century, Muslim and Arab traders introduced sugar from medieval India to the other parts of the Abbasid Caliphate in the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, Egypt, North Africa, and Andalusia. By the 10th century, sources state that every village in Mesopotamia grew sugarcane.Watson, Andrew. ''Agricultural innovation in the early Islamic world. Cambridge University Press. p. 26–7. The early modern era, which saw the European colonization of the Americas and Asia, also led to a rapid increase in sugar production. Sugar plantations were established in numerous places colonized by European nations, such as islands in the Indian Ocean, the West Indies and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Labor for these plantations were typically provided by indentured servants,

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

or kidnapped Pacific Islanders, which saw the rise of the transatlantic and Indian Ocean slave trades to supply enslaved laborers to cash crop plantations (including those producing sugar). Sugarcane was typically refined into raw sugar or distilled into rum on colonial plantations or sent elsewhere to be processed. Raw sugar was brought to port in a variety of purities that could be sold either as raw sugar directly to market for producing alcohol, or as muscovado exported sugar refineries in Europe and the Americas. In 19th-century Europe, raw sugars that had been refined enough to lose most of their molasses content were termed raw and deemed higher quality, while poor quality sugars with a high molasses content were referred to as muscovado, though the term ''brown sugar'' was sometimes used interchangeably.Accum, Fredrick Christian, ''Culinary Chemistry Exhibiting the Scientific Principles of Cookery'' (1821), London, p. 289.

Production

Production methods

Muscovado is made from the juice of sugar cane that is evaporated until crystallisation occurs. The viscous suspension of crystals and mother liquor (molasses) is called massecuite. In the 19th century several techniques were used for sugar production.Martineau, G. (1918), "Sugar from several points of view", in ''The Chemical News and Journal of Industrial Science'', 117. Muscovado is today produced by three main methods:Roger Knight, G. (2013), ''Commodities and Colonialism: The Story of Big Sugar in Indonesia, 1880–1942'', p. 4. * The manual production method is to

crystallise Crystallization is the process by which solid forms, where the atoms or molecules are highly organized into a structure known as a crystal. Some ways by which crystals form are precipitating from a solution, freezing, or more rarely d ...

(granulate) massecuite by cooling it in pans and continuously shearing it by stirring with a large spatula (typically used in India) or by pressing it with the feet (typically used in Africa). * The industrial centrifuge method invented in late 18th to early 19th century, in which massecuite is crystallised using a centrifuge to separate a crystal-rich mush that is drained of its molasses in a vessel under gravity. * Modern industrial methods using a spray drier. Massecuite is also used in the production of

, in which it is set into moulds directly.

Producer nations

Total global production is 10 to 11 million tons annually by 20 nations. The largest producer is India (58%), followed by Colombia (14%), Myanmar (9%), Pakistan (6%), Brazil (4%), Bangladesh (3%) and China (3%). In India, most khand (muscovado) is produced by 150 small to medium scale private manufacturers overseen by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission. These producers use traditional chemical-free organic manual shearing methods, each operating between 100 and 120 days per year with a typical capacity of between 200 and 350 tons of sugar cane per day. The largest producing states in India are

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

(58%), Bihar (6%), Karnataka (5%), Madhya Pradesh and

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

(6%). In Mauritius muscovado is produced by centrifuging massecuite, from which the molasses is left to drain naturally. In the Philippines muscovado may be generated by any of the three methods. In the past, muscovado was one of the prominent export commodities of the Philippines, especially from the Negros region from the 19th century until the late 1970s. The production of muscovado in the Philippines, Barbados, and elsewhere had experienced a long period of decline when large mills took over sugar production from small farmers with small mills. In recent years an increased consumer interest in healthy and organic foods has revived interest in muscovado, creating a new market for small mills.

Nutrition

When produced under regulated conditions muscovado is nutritionally richer than sugars, and retains more of the natural minerals in sugar cane juice, as shown in the following nutritional analysis (per 100 g): * Total mineral salts 740 mg max. * Phosphorus (P) 3.9 mg max. * Calcium (Ca) 85 mg max. * Magnesium (Mg) 23 mg max. * Potassium (K) 100 mg max. * Iron (Fe) 1.3 mg max. * Calories 383 kCalJaggery Nutritional Value, Nutrition Facts & Analysis, Ayur Times, Dr. Jagdev Singh, 27 Nov 2014
/ref>

Uses

Masala_Tea_and_South_Indian_Filter_Coffee

Food and confectionery

Muscovado is used as an ingredient in food and confectionery, and as a sweetener in hot beverages. It is very dark brown and is slightly coarser and stickier than most brown sugars. Muscovado takes its flavor and color from its source, sugarcane juice. It offers good resistance to high temperatures and has a reasonably long shelf life. Muscovado sugar can be substituted for brown sugar in most recipes by slightly reducing the liquid content of the recipe. The use of ''khand'' in India in making sweets has been traced to at least 500 BC, when both raw and refined sugar were used.Michael Krondl, ''Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert'', Chicago Review Press, , pp. 34–35 Along with gur, ''khandsari'' unrefined sugar is India's traditional sweetener,"Jaggery – A Traditional Indian Sweetener", P. V. K. Rao, M. Das S. K. Das, ''Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge'', 2004, vol. 2007 6(1), January 2007, p. 95
/ref> commonly used in traditional recipes for masala chai (spiced Indian tea), eating with roti by mixing with melted

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from India. It is commonly used in India for cooking, as a traditional medicine, and for religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by simmering butter, which is churned from c ...

, traditional Indian sweets that require sugar such as kheer (Indian rice pudding), gur or khand chawal (sweetened rice) or laddu. Muscovado is often used to sweeten coffee. An_Ayurvedic_Pharmacy,_Rishikesh_(1)

Alcohol

A significant proportion of India's production of Khandsari (muscovado) is used for the illicit production of desi daru, a distilled alcoholic drink.

Ayurveda medicine

Khandsari (muscovado) is used in traditional Ayurveda medicine to aid blood purification, digestion, bone health and the lungs."Policy Brief – Technological and Policy Options for Modernization of Jaggery Industry in India"
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, L. S. Gangwar, S. Solomon & S. I. Anwar, p .2

References

External links

Video: Centrifugal method of Khand production in India

Video: Gur (Jaggary) and Khand (Muscovado) making in India using traditional method.
{{Filipino cuisine Sugar Molasses