Problem Description:
The liquid jaggery or semi liquid syrup is obtained as an intermediate product during evaporation of filtered and clarified sugarcane juice during the process of solid jaggery making. The traditional liquid jaggery preparation contains 30-36% water, 40-60% sucrose, 15-25% invert sugar, calcium 0.3%, iron 8.5-10mg/100mg, phosphorous 0.5/100mg, protein 0.1/100mg and vitamin B 14/100mg. Traditional method of liquid jaggery making is the closest method; There the liquid jaggery is made as a intermediary product in solid jaggery making and hence clarificants and chemical additives required of solid jaggery is being added and the shelf life of the liquid jaggery was very low on account of higher water content. This often necessitates addition of preservatives or refrigeration to enhance the shelf life. Since water content is high the sedimentation of non sugar materials small fibres will occur and the bottling is done after keeping for settling down for 8-10 days and taking only the supernatant. The process of keeping for sedimentation increases the chance of fungal contamination. Preservatives like potassium metabisulphite @ 0.1% (1 g/ kg of liquid jaggery), or Benzoic acid @ 0.5% (5 g/kg of liquid jaggery), is added to improve shelf life. The short shelf life of the traditional products resulted in the indiscriminate use of preservatives to prolong the shelf life. Apart from the addition of preservatives, other chemicals like hydros (sodium hydrosulphite) are added for better colour and appeal of the product. Hence, liquid jaggery making procedures without any addition of chemicals is an urgent need to produce good quality jaggery for community health and to double the income of farmers cum small entrepreneurs supported on sugarcane. Solution Description:
The present method for the preparation of the liquid jaggery was a standardized procedure to get appreciable good gloss and shelf life of the final product. The sugarcane juice obtained from both matured and immature canes with age varying from 7 - 12 months could be conveniently used for the preparation of liquid jaggery. The good sugarcane juice had the density of 1.07 – 1.10 g/ml. The good clarity was achieved by the removal of impurities by initial filtration of sugarcane juice, removal of heat coagulated suspension and floating impurities during two stages to get the final product. Heating facilitates the separation of dissolved colloidal albumins, wax and gum in the form dark coloured waxy coagulated matter floating on the surface. Product pH range was 5.0 to 6.8 and the moisture content less than 12%. Sugarcane juice obtained from 7½ month old cane yielded only 14.6% on the volume of sugarcane juice as against 24% yield from 11-12 month old cane. The liquid jaggery technology can be made with a hassle free process without any chemical additives like clarificants, coloring agents and preservatives thereby ensuring the production of a healthy sweetener. Further extension of shelf life if required can be met with the addition of permissible level of preservatives. This can also form an adulterant free healthy raw material for various confectionery items and in Ayurvedic Medicines