Jaggery

JAGGERY

Jaggery, unlike white sugar, contains rich molasses and trace minerals naturally present in sugar cane juice. This is what gives it such a complex, bright, fruity flavor beyond just being sweet! The color of traditionally-made, chemical-free jaggery ranges from golden to dark brown.

How is It Made?

Jaggery is made using traditional methods of pressing and distilling palm or cane juice. This is a 3-step process (3):

Extraction: The canes or palms are pressed to extract the sweet juice or sap.

Clarification: The juice is allowed to stand in large containers so that any sediment settles to the bottom. It is then strained to produce a clear liquid.

Concentration: The juice is placed in a very large, flat-bottomed pan and boiled.

During this process, the jaggery is stirred and the impurities are skimmed off the top until only a yellow, dough-like paste remains.

This “dough” is then transferred to molds or containers where it cools into jaggery, which looks something like this:

The color can range from light golden to dark brown. This is important, since the color and texture are used to grade the jaggery.

Interestingly, Indians value lighter shades more than darker ones.

This lighter, “good quality” jaggery generally contains more than 70% sucrose. It also contains less than 10% isolated glucose and fructose, with 5% as minerals (4).

It is most often sold as a solid block of sugar, but it’s also produced in liquid and granulated forms.

Jaggery contains more nutrients than refined sugar because of its molasses content.

Molasses is a nutritious by-product of the sugar making process, which is usually removed when making refined sugar.

Including the molasses adds a small amount of micronutrients to the final product.

The exact nutrition profile of this sweetener can vary, depending on the type of plant used to make it (cane or palm).

According to one source, 100 grams (half a cup) of jaggery may contain (4):

Calories: 383.

Sucrose: 65–85 grams.

Fructose and glucose: 10–15 grams.

Protein: 0.4 grams.

Fat: 0.1 grams.

Iron: 11 mg, or 61% of the RDI.

Magnesium: 70-90 mg, or about 20% of the RDI.

Potassium: 1050 mg, or 30% of the RDI.

Manganese: 0.2–0.5 mg, or 10–20% of the RDI.

However, keep in mind that this is a 100-gram (3.5-oz) serving, which is much higher than you would generally eat at once. You’d probably consume closer to a tablespoon (20 grams) or teaspoon (7 grams).

Jaggery may also contain small amounts of B vitamins and minerals, including calcium, zinc, srus and copper (4).

One commercially available product, SugaVida, is a granulated palm jaggery that is claimed to be a good source of naturally occurring B vitamins.