Brand New Spin - Sugarcane

Sweet And Juicy

Forget aerated drinks, opt for fresh sugarcane juice anyday. It is tasty and has many health benefits, advises PALLAVI BHATTACHARYA

Of the five basic tastes, ‘sweetness’ is universally regarded as the most pleasurable one. Sugar is undoubtedly the main source of sweetness. Excessive consumption of table sugar or sucrose; however causes diabetes, obesity and tooth decay. Paradoxically the consumption of sugarcane (from which table sugar is manufactured) has myriad health benefits and doesn’t induce diabetes, weight gain and tooth decay.

Sugar (a product of photosynthesis) is a carbohydrate existing in all green plants, fruits and vegetables. Sugarcane and sugar beet are however the greatest commercial sources of sugar. Sugar is richly stored in the thick fibrous stalks of sugarcane measuring from two metres to six metres in height. The plant’s roots reach till 15 feet below the ground thereby absorbing nutritious minerals from an unsullied bottom soil. This makes sugarcane a medicinal plant unlike sugar beet. Cane sugar is also preferred to beet sugar as it melts easily, tastes better and is the only source of naturally brown sugar.

Sugarcane originated in New Guinea around 6000BC. 1000BC onwards its cultivation spread along the human migration routes to Southeast Asia, India and the east of the Pacific.

Now over 200 countries grow sugarcane; Brazil being the largest producer followed by India. Sugarcane has been cultivated in India since the Vedic era. Emperor Alexander carried sugarcane from India to the West around 325BC.

The best way to have sugarcane is to chew on its freshly cut long raw stalks, extracting its juices without swallowing the stalk. If you unfortunately dismiss this as an un-sophisticated rural practice, do at least chew on tiny de-skinned pieces of sugarcane which is definitely a far healthier practice than chewing gum.

Opt for fresh sugarcane juice to a soft drink any day. Sugarcane juice is in fact a far healthier alternative to the white sugar made from it. It is in fact a healing drink with the following benefits:
● It cures a sore throat, cold and flu.
● It has a low glycemic index, which is why one may enjoy it, without worrying about the huge calorie intake that comes with other sweet drinks.
● Unlike table sugar, it has no simple sugars. Diabetics can therefore relish it without worrying about soaring blood sugar levels (those with type 2 diabetes should still have limited sugarcane juice).
● It provides glucose to the body, burned by the muscles to provide the body natural energy. It re-hydrates the human body fatigued from heat and physical activity. It’s known to boost performance in athletes and manual labourers.
● Being alkaline in nature, it not only fights acidity, and detoxifies the body but protects the body against cancer (especially breast and prostrate cancer).
● It enables the smooth functioning of the kidneys and clears urinary flow.
● It’s recommended for fevers which cause great protein loss from the body. Liberal consumption of sugarcane juice, supplements protein during febrile disorders. It also brings down high body temperatures during fevers.
● It’s an ideal thirst quencher and cooling drink during summers. It keeps the body hydrated.
● The easily digestible sugar in sugarcane juice helps in speedy recovery from jaundice. The steep fall in glucose levels during jaundice; may be replenished by having 3 to 4 glasses of sugarcane juice daily.
● It´s good for the digestive system and also acts as a mild laxative because of its high potassium content.
● It’s rich in magnesium, manganese, calcium, iron, copper, phosphorous, riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin C and organic salts.
● It has a wide range of compounds in addition to sucrose which bestows it with wound healing properties and strengthens the immune system.
● Regular intake of sugarcane juice strengthens the stomach, kidneys, heart, eyes, brain and sex organs.
● It lowers body cholesterol- both LDL and triglycerides.

If you hear complaints of gastro-enteric diseases after consuming sugarcane juice; it’s not the juice which caused it but the unhygienic condition in which the juice was squeezed out that was responsible for it. Sugarcane juice gets easily contaminated, as its raw form and high sugar content attracts numerous flies. So, only buy sugarcane juice from a vendor who maintains meticulous cleanliness. Check on the cleanliness of the ice cubes, glasses and equipments too. A dash of lemon, ginger or chaat masala brings an extra zing to the juice.

Sugarcane juice isn’t sugarcane’s only beverage. Cachaca, the most popular alcoholic beverage of Brazil is made by the distillation of sugarcane. Sugarcane rum is popular in the Caribbeans. You may also try out sugarcane syrups and rock candy (crystallised cane juice).

All dentists dissuade against the chewing of sweets but chewing sugarcane shoots is known to exercise the teeth and gums and make them strong. The juice sucked from sugarcane is said to keep the teeth clean.

Dew drops which collect on sugarcane leaves treat various eye disorders. It may be applied to the eyes for defective vision, cataracts, conjunctivitis, burning sensation of the eyes and eye stress.

White sugar is just one of the products of sugarcane. Brown sugar (khandsari) and jaggery (gur) are also made from it. Molasses and bagasse are its highly useful by-products.

Jaggery also referred to as ‘medicinal sugar’ treats cough, asthma and constipation. It has sucrose, glucose and also retains the minerals and vitamins of sugarcane.

After sugarcane is processed to obtain table sugar, the black gooey mass which remains is highly nutritious blackstrap molasses, an inexpensive superfood for iron and magnesium.

The bagasse remaining after sugarcane crushing is burned to provide heat and electricity. Because of its high cellulose content; it serves as environmentally friendly raw material for paper, cardboard and utensils.

Brown sugar from sugarcane is natural combination of sugar and molasses, refined without colourings, flavourings or coatings. And no matter how much nutritionists may point their fingers at white sugar, we can’t stop using it in the confectionary world. With 99.5 to 99.9% pure sucrose, table sugar is after all one of the purest chemicals manufactured and will co-exist on the dining table with table salt.