A Look at the Relationship between Sugar Color and Grain Size

Marianne McKee, Ronnie Triche, Mary An Godshall, and Charley Richard, Sugar Processing Research Institute, Inc., New Orleans, LA, USA

                            ABSTRACT

Color is an important parameter indicating sugar quality.  SPRI has a long history in the examination of color of various types of sugar products.  It has shown that color of raw sugar changes over time during storage both in laboratory conditions as well as storage in the warehouse.  The objective of this study is to illustrate the importance of grain size in production of high quality raw sugar with good “storability.” Several raw sugars were collected from raw sugar factories and stored under laboratory conditions.  In this study of color during raw sugar storage, it was found that raw sugars with visually smaller crystals had a tendency to increase in color over time at a faster rate than sugars with larger crystals.  Additionally, it was observed that raw sugars with higher initial colors increased in color more than lower color raw sugars with identical storage conditions.  The sugars were also separated using a series to determine the grain size distribution of the raw sugars.  Various quality parameters were measured for the whole raw sugar as well as the various grain size portions of the sample.  Color increases in the raw sugar samples as grain size decreases.  Color over time, turbidity, ash, and starch in relation to grain size will also be discussed.  

Abstract for an oral presentation at the ASSCT – 42^nd Annual Joint Meeting, St. Pete Beach, FL on June 20-22, 2012 at the St. Pete Beach, FL, USA