Sugar Production from Sugar Cane
Practical Action
Types of cane sugar
Processed sugar comes in two forms: non-crystalline and crystalline of which there are two basic
types; centrifuged and non-centrifuged. The different forms of sugar are produced in many
different countries and often have different names, therefore for clarity the different types are
described as follows:
Non-crystalline sugars
Syrups
A non-crystalline liquid of high viscosity (thickness) concentrated from whole cane juice. It can
vary from golden brown to dark brown and contains; up to 50% sucrose, high levels (up to 20%)
of invert sugars, up to 20% moisture and the remainder is made up of other insoluble matter
(ash, proteins, bagasse etc).
Crystalline sugars
These can be divided into two types: non-centrifugal sugars and centrifugal sugars. Non-
centrifugal sugars are basic lump sugars where the molasses and crystals have not been
separated. Centrifugal sugars are free flowing granular sugars where the molasses and crystals
have been separated to some degree.
Non-centrifugal sugars
Lump sugars
These sugars are a concentrated product of the cane juice and are produced in many countries
for direct consumption. They vary from yellowish brown to dark brown (almost black sometimes)
in colour and contain up to 80% sucrose with the remainder made up from moisture, invert
sugars and other insoluble matter such as ash, proteins and bagasse fines in varying proportions.
Lump sugars are produced in many countries around the world and are known by a range of
names: jaggery in Africa, gur in India and Bangladesh, desi in Pakistan, chancaca in Peru; other
names include panela, piloncillo, and rapedura.
Centrifugal sugars
Khandsari
A basic raw granular sugar, developed in India, that has been separated from most of the
molasses. Khandsari varies in colour from golden yellow to brown and contains between 94 and
98% sucrose.
It is produced by the small to medium-scale sector and has a considerable market in India. At its
most basic, khandsari is manufactured using simple animal-drawn crushers, is subjected to
simple clarification, boiled to the consistency of a thick syrup, and allowed to stand until sugar
crystals are formed. The small crystals are then separated in manually operated centrifuges and
sun dried.
At the other end of the scale the production plant can use diesel or electrically driven crushers,
crystalliser to ensure uniform formation of crystals, power-driven centrifuges, and forced-air
driers to dry the product. Factories processing between one and two hundred tonnes of cane per
day are common, yielding between 6.5 and 13 tonnes of sugar per day respectively.
Since the late 1950s traditional khandsari production has been in decline in favour of a
modified process known as open pan sulphitation (OPS) sugar processing. The OPS production
method produce an off-white to white crystal sugar which can be of the same quality as that
produced by modern large-scale VP sugar factories.
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