Growing appetite for healthy foods spurs muscovado renaissance

CEBU, Philippines - The growing awareness and preference for healthy foods is driving local and international demand for muscovado.

Antique province alone in Visayas ships out about 150 metric tons of muscovado annually. This reflects an upward trend in national production and international demand.

Muscovado exports spiked from 405 tons in 1997 to 1,186 tons in 2006, the Department of Trade and Industry reported. Major muscovado destination according to volume include Japan, Germany, Italy, France, South Korea, United States, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

The resurgence comes about a century since muscovado went down from a major export commodity in the 1800s to a minor agriculture product in the 1900s when the Americans introduced modern sugar milling to produce refined white sugar.

In recent years, white sugar has been exposed as empty calories. In comparison, muscovado or unrefined cane sugar retains all the nutrients of sugarcane such as calcium, phosphorous, iron, potassium and sodium.

Researchers at the Department of Science and Technology’s Industrial Technology Development Institute have standardized muscovado production process to ensure quality and meet the strict requirements of markets in Asia, Europe and North America.

In a survey, ITDI discovered the most muscovado millers in the country do not meet international requirements on moisture content, microbial load and color consistency, among others. In fact, only one miller that’s based in Negros Occidental is registered with three international muscovado certifying bodies.

Traditional production methods common in most mills only have 50 percent efficiency compared to modern processing.

ITDI said the processing needs to be controlled to eradicate dirt in muscovado sugar. This is a very important requirement for food safety and acceptability. Good manufacturing practices covering personnel, buildings and facilities, equipment and utensils, water supply and processes must also be followed.

Overall, quality starts in the field. Cutting of sugar stalks should be close to the ground for maximum sugar recovery. The canes should be milled within 16 hours to minimize contamination.

Harvested canes kept over 48 hours should be sprayed with hot water. Canes should be cut, cleaned and stored properly. Burning of canes hastens deterioration and results in up to 20 percent weight loss and juice purity decreases. Trash reduces milling capacity and sugar recovery.

ITDI has set parameters to control the quality of muscovado. Cooking temperature should be 115 degrees to 120 degrees Celsius because less than this range results in sugar loss and burnt aftertaste and smell.

Premium muscovado is golden brown to dark brown with 1.5 to 3.5 percent moisture content, and shelf-life of nine to 48 months.

Meanwhile, the Institute of Agricultural Engineering at University of the Philippines Los Baños has also developed a technology that raises production efficiency up to 75 percent by extracting more juice from bagasse.