SYRUPS 5711
SYRUPS
M A Clarke, Sugar Processing Research Institute ion exchange resin decolorization and carbon treat-
Incorporated, New Orleans, LA, USA ments. This product is often sold to beverage com-
This article is reproduced from Encyclopaedia of Food Science, panies and canners because the high quality of color
Food Technology and Nutrition, Copyright 1993, Academic Press. and clarity are immediately apparent.
Liquid invert sugar, which includes a range of 0005
liquid products of sucrose, glucose, and fructose of
Introduction 75–77 Brix, was, until the late 1970s, a major prod-
uct (15% of market) in the USA. It has been replaced
0001 Syrups, which are sweeteners in liquid form, usually by the cheaper starch-based syrups, most notably
of high viscosity, have been used as food sweeteners high-fructose corn syrup. Liquid products are still
since the early days of humanity, e.g., honey. This made in the UK, other parts of Europe, South
article includes information on the source and pro- America, and other areas.
duction, composition and properties, and use of
cane and golden syrups, molasses, sorghum syrups,
corn-, glucose-, fructose- and starch-derived syrups, Golden Syrup
fruit-based syrups, and maple syrups. (See Honey.) Golden syrup is most popular in the UK, Canada, 0006
South Africa, and Australia (countries in which it is
Cane Syrups, Golden Syrups, and manufactured). It is a high-Brix (77–82 ), partially
Molasses inverted syrup, filtered several times over bone char-
coal to give it a special golden color, very mild flavor,
0002 Cane syrups are usually made from sugarcane juice, and high clarity. The syrup is generally inverted with
concentrated by evaporation, after clarification, sulfuric acid and neutralized with calcium carbonate,
before any sugar is crystallized out or otherwise so that no soluble salt will remain as a reaction prod-
removed. (See Sugar: Sugarcane.) uct to affect the special flavor. Typical analysis (cour-
tesy of Tate and Lyle Sugars) is as follows: invert,
Cane Syrup
50%; sucrose, 32%; ash, 1.4%, and solids, 82.6%.
0003 The term ‘cane syrup’ as applied to consumer prod- The syrup is used directly on cereals, breads, and
ucts has a regional orientation to southern USA and baked goods, and in home baking, e.g., in syrup
other sugarcane-processing areas, where cane syrups pudding or tart. Golden syrup tends to crystallize on
and blends are sold for use on pancakes, biscuits, and storage and is therefore usually sold in cans.
cereals and in cooking. For food industry use, cane The obvious advantages, in many applications, of 0007
syrups are produced at sugarcane factories in Louisi- handling sugar in dissolved form have led to the
ana and Hawaii, or at refineries, where a blend of extensive distribution and use in bakery products of
brown and golden-colored streams are combined to sucrose and invert sugar syrups. Liquid sugars can be
produce syrup. Cane syrups are dark golden brown in roughly classified into sucrose types, invert (or
color, with medium flavor intensity (caramel, butter- mixed) types, and refinery syrups or liquid brown
scotch, cane and green flavors; no heavy molasses sugars. Sucrose is available at 66.5–68% solids
flavor), and are partially inverted. (Inversion is the content. This is the limit of solubility of sucrose
process in which sucrose is converted by hydrolysis to at ordinary temperatures. Two or three grades, vary-
an equimolar mixture of glucose and fructose.) A ing for the main part only in color, are usually
factory evaporator syrup is often completely inverted, available.
and mixed with uninverted syrup, to give a product of If part of the sugar is inverted, the resulting syrup 0008
approximately 85 Brix, 25–30% sucrose and 50– will retain higher concentrations of solids in solution.
52% invert. This is a relatively clear and low-ash Common commercial types are syrups of 73% or
material. (See Carbohydrates: Classification and 76% solids with 30% or 60% invert. Totally inverted
Properties; Fructose; Sucrose: Properties and Deter- syrups contain 72–73% solids, of which perhaps 5%
mination.) is sucrose.
0004 Cane sugar refineries make liquid sucrose, a Because of the low water content, all of these 0009
watery, colorless solution of 67–70 Brix (percentage syrups are quite resistant to microbiological spoilage.
on a solids basis) sucrose, generally prepared by The invert syrups are probably somewhat superior in
redissolving granulated sugar, but in some special this regard because of their lower water activity. (See
refineries, e.g., in Brazil and Canada, by extensive Water Activity: Effect on Food Stability.)
