What is Muscovado?
Forms vary depending on the cooling treatment applied on concentrated syrup. It is prepared as:
- amorphous soft-brown powder, known as "kalamay" in the Visayas amd "tagapulot" in Ilocos
- lump form, molded in halved coconut shells, known as "panocha" in Central and Southern Luzon
- thick concentrated evaporated juice, known as "inuyat" in Pampanga and Pangasinan
Grades of Muscovado are as follows:
First Class is light-brown-to-golden-yellow with higher sucrose content and lower ash and moisture.
Second class is medium-to-dark-brown containing higher ash, molasses and caramelized sugar which give its characteristic color and stronger bitter aroma.
Third class, classified as the poorest grade, is semi-solid containing much lower sucrose and higher ash and invert sugar.
Prepared by:
Sugar and Sugar By-products Utilization Department
Industrial Research and Development Office
SUGAR REGULATORY ADMINISTRATION
North Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City
Benefits of Muscovado Sugar:
"Of the different kinds of sugars and sweeteners scientifically tested for proper nutrition, the muscovado is considered by most doctors and scientists to be the healthiest because it contains vitamins and minerals that are usually not available in most of the processed and refined sugar substitutes." -Diana A. Galang, Manila Bulletin
"Compared to normal white sugar, muscovado sugar retains all the cane sugar nutrients. High in minerals: potassum, calcium, iron, it has more health benefits compared to normal white sugar, which has zero nutrients, as the refining process to produce white sugar has practically eliminated all traces of nutrients from it." -www.nutrition-info.com
"Unlike other brown sugars that achieve their brown colour from the addition of molasses to white sugar, Muscovado acquires its taste and colour from the juices extracted directly from the sugar cane. Its sweetness is not as potent as other refined sugars and it possesses a distinctive and matchless taste. This sugar, I have been known to pick and eat straight out of the jar, it’s that good. Muscovado sugar is what I consider to be the Dom Pérignon of sugars." Jen Jen, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
