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Today is :
Archives (2001)
Muscovado: the promise
of the 'other sugar'
by Maria Rowena Briones |
July-September
2001
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Muscovado is not a surname or the kontrabida
in a soap opera. It is the less popular version of the sugar
that we know. It is brown and soft and comes in powder or
lumped form like a sticky clay, or in syrup form like the
more chichi honey.
 Muscovado
has thrived as a backyard industry dating back to the Spanish
era. Instead of a gigantic sugar mill, a 12" x 24"
two-roller cast-iron mill made of cogs, gears and belt and
driven by a motorized engine extract juice from sugar canes.
It takes about 40 minutes to yield enough cane juice to fill
the vat, the locally known kawas, where it is cooked
for three to four hours until it becomes sticky. Cooking is
the critical phase in muscovado processing that's why the
furnace, using only bagasse (a milling by-product), is designed
to emit heat gradually. To hasten the hardening process and
allow impurity coagulation, a minimal amount of lime is added.
The curing process depends on the desired type
of muscovado. For powder form, the concentrated juice is transferred
to rectangular curing tubs where they are vigorously mixed
until they solidify into lumps. These lumps are then powdered
based on the desired consistency and color and stored in sacks
or bags . For the molded product type, the juice is just transferred
to a mold, usually coconut shells, for the liquid to solidify.
With only a minimal capital and labor input
with just the backyard as the 'plant', the muscovado is now
ready for the market.
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| Muscovado products sold by foreign countries |
Some producers have regular buyers while the
rest settle for the erratic market.
Although an integral part of the sugar industry, muscovado
is overshadowed by domestic milled sugar production. In fact,
in places where there are sugar mills, there is minimal muscovado
production. Furthermore, there is little technical and financial
support for muscovado producers unlike those of the sugar
crop growers who receive much attention and assistance from
the government.
Aside from the producers being left at the mercy
of traders who seldom give them fair market price, muscovado
production technology has a lot of shortcomings. The juice
is not fully extracted from sugarcanes and a large percentage
of these juices are lost in the process. The juice extracted
is not spared from contamination and sediment making the muscovado
not acceptable for export. Despite these constraints and the
presence of refined and imported sugar in our local market
scene, muscovado remains a surviving, if not a thriving industry.
It is used in making grated coconut candies, peanut brittle,
banana chips, pili nut candies, bar breadfruit candies and
coconut honey. Muscovado has penetrated posh hotels and restaurants
as unconventional and delectable coffee sweetener. Health
conscious consumers also seek this especially now that being
healthy has become an obsession. Going organic and natural
has also become a fad, if not a priority.
The Industrial Research and Development Office
of the Sugar Regulatory Administration suggests an externally
walled, roofed and enlarged muscovado plant and a regular
upgrading of the juice extractor especially the engine that
powers it for a more speedy extraction. Installation of screens
along the juice canal to the cooking vats or storage tanks
will help eliminate extraneous matters in the juice. The transfer
of juice can be made efficient by a two-hp motor driven water
pump. This would require an additional capital estimated to
four times the required capital in the conventional muscovado
production. For an industry that seemingly offers little to
be desired, this additional capital is well worth the risk.
Muscovado production holds a lot of promise since the processing
cost is minimal, relative to milled-sugar production, leading
to a higher gross profit. This is the reward to a muscovado
producer, for taking the road less traveled in sugar production.
Source: Latiza, Augusto ed. A Primer on Muscovado
Production and Technology Industrial Projects Division Sugar
Regulatory Administration.
(For more information contact Angelina Lojo
of Industrial Research and Development Office of the Sugar
Regulatory Administration located at Philippine Sugar Center,
Annex Bldg. North Ave. Diliman Quezon City or call Tel. No.
(02) 926-7227 or email at srairdo@nsclub.net.) More Articles:
Vol. 3 No. 3 July-September 2001
»»
USM recommends high-yielding rubber clones
»» GMA okays
P2B R&D Fund
»» New
sciences to produce more food
»» Five
cacao clones now ready for farmer use
»» NIRDEAP
for rubber: stretching opportunities for rubber industry
»» Rubber:
the oozing tree
»» Village
processing technologies: approach to solve low production of rubber
»» Smallholder
rubber farming system "no break" in farmers' income
»»
NIRDEAP for coffee: perking up the coffee sector
»» Clonal
propagation in coffee: a promising technology
»» How
to raise healthy cacao seedlings
»» Earning
more from canes
»» Coping
with acidic soils
»» Muscovado:
the promise of the 'other sugar'
»» Rock
candy: a 'tasteful' example of a profitable home business
»» Propagating
cacao by nodal grafting
»»
Making vinegar a business venture
»» The
Philippine coffee industry: a profile
»» Prospects
in cocoa
[More
2001 Articles]
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