페이지 이미지
PDF
ePub

white sugar. White flour has also been added to sugar as an adulterant, but that form of adulteration is not known in this country. The only adulteration which is found in American sugar, in so far as I know, is that incident to the process of manufacture which I have described. When sulfur is used in sulfuring the juice before clarifying a trace of sulfurous acid may still adhere to the finished product. When bluing is used the particles of ultramarine blue attach themselves to the sugar crystals and become an adulteration. I have seen sugar so blued that on solution the water would turn blue. Sugar granules are also sometimes washed with salts of tin, a very poisonous compound, and a trace of these salts may still adhere to the crystals. Sugar has also been mixed with dextrose made from starch, in other words, from starch sugar, or as it is ordinarily called, anhydrous grape sugar. This is a form of adulteration which has been little practiced on account of the difficulty of getting a dry starch sugar in commercial quantities. Recent improvements in the manufacture of dextrose have made it more probable that this form of adulteration may be more frequent in the future. As a food product pure dextrose is probably as valuable as sugar, but if it can be made cheaper it would become a fraudulent adulteration or if added in any way without notice its addition is fraudulent and constitutes an adulteration. There is little, however, to fear from this form of adulteration as long as the price of sugar does not go much above 5 cents per pound.

Sugar as a Food.-The food value of sugar is well defined. It furnishes next to oil and fat the most complete food for heat and energy that can be consumed, ranking, of course, as starch in this particular. Sugar is a quickacting food and therefore is especially valuable to relieve exhaustion. It is particularly useful for soldiers on a forced march or for people engaged in any extraordinary effort. A lump of sugar eaten occasionally keeps up the strength and prevents exhaustion. The value of sugar as a food is not appreciated as it should be, since it is valued mostly for its condimental and preservative properties.

SIRUP.

A very common form in which sugar is used in this country is in the form of sirup. The United States more than any other nation consumes viscous liquid solutions of sugar as a condimental food product, especially at breakfast on hot cakes and other articles of diet. Table sirup is an almost uniform article of diet upon the American breakfast table whether in the household, the hotel, or restaurant.

Maple Sirup. Among the sirups, first of all must be mentioned the most valuable and highly appreciated, namely, maple sirup. Maple sirup is the product of the evaporation of the juice of the sap of the maple tree to a consistency in which only about 25 or 30 percent of its weight is water. This is sufficient to prevent the crystallization of the sugar for at least a reasonable

[blocks in formation]

length of time. Maple sirup is best when freshly made, and if kept through the summer should be put in tins and tightly sealed while hot. In this condition it will keep its original flavor almost entirely, whereas if left in barrels or other ordinary receptacles its flavor is impaired. Maple sirup is also made by dissolving maple sugar as occasion may require, but this kind is not so highly prized as that made directly from the maple sap.

[graphic]

FIG. 80.-SMALL PRIMITIVE MILL FOR EXTRACTING JUICE FROM SUGAR CANE FOR SIRUP MAKING.

-(Photograph by H. W. Wiley.)

Analysis of Maple Sirup.-The average composition of ten samples of maple sirup of known purity is as follows:

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

The study of the ash of maple sirup is an important point in connection with its purity. It is distinctly different from the ash of the sugar cane and

[graphic]

FIG. 81.-MILL AND EVAPORATING APPARATUS FOR SIRUP MAKING IN GEORGIA.-(Bulletin 70, Bureau of Chemistry.)

CANE SIRUP.

475 sorghum, and its study should not be neglected in all cases where there is any doubt respecting the genuiness of the samples.

Cane Sirup. Sugar cane sirup is made by expressing the juice of the sugar cane as described, clarifying, and evaporating the juice to a consistency where only about 25 or 30 percent of the water remains, which is sufficient to prevent the sugar from crystallizing for a reasonable length of time. Sugar cane sirup is made in hundreds of small factories in the states of Texas, Louisiana,

[graphic][subsumed]

FIG. 82.-RELATIVE LENGTH OF CANES USED FOR SIRUP MAKING.-(Photograph by H. W. Wiley.)

Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. It is usually made in a small way with mills driven by a horse or mule and with primitive methods of evaporation in an ordinary kettle. Hard pine wood is burned for the evaporation and the empyreumatic flavor of the pine is often absorbed by the sirup. In Figs. 80 and 81 are shown typical apparatus used for the manufacture of sirup from sugar cane in Georgia and in Fig. 82 the relative length of canes ready for manufacture. In factories where modern apparatus is used,

in so far as I know, the vacuum process is not employed. In fact, except for economy of fuel, the vacuum process would be objectionable, since by boiling in an ordinary open kettle a larger quantity of sugar is inverted and thus the tendency to crystallization is diminished. It is a common but reprehensible practice in making sugar cane sirup to subject the freshly expressed juice to the fumes of burning sulfur. This makes a light-colored sirup but introduces a substance highly objectionable and one which destroys to a certain degree the flavor of the product. Experiments made by the Department of Agriculture show that delicious, wholesome, and palatable sugar cane sirup is best made by clarifying the expressed juice solely by means of heat and mechanical separation of the coagulum. The addition of lime or any other clarifying reagent is unnecessary and only makes a sirup of less desirable and less palatable quality. Since cane sirup is made uniformly in open kettles or pans there is a slight caramellization of the sirup during evaporation which gives a reddish tint to the product, which should be a mark of superiority instead of being so often regarded as a mark of inferiority. The consumer should always be suspicious of a sugar cane sirup which is light in color. It is probably a case of "Greeks bearing gifts" in the form of sulfurous acid or other injurious bleaching materials. Sugar cane sirup is not appreciated by the people of the North. In fact it is rarely seen or consumed by them. In its own country, however, it is a staple article of diet, highly esteemed, wholesome, palatable, and nutritious.

Analysis of Sugar Cane Sirup.-The average composition of thirteen samples of cane sirup of known purity is as follows:

[blocks in formation]

Sorghum Sirup.-The sorghum plant (Sorghum saccharatum) is grown practically in every state in the Union, but principally in Kansas. Some of the very best sorghum sirup made in the United States, however, is made in Minnesota, and this plant can be used for sirup making purposes over the whole area of the United States.

The method of manufacture is exactly that of sugar cane sirup. It is made in small mills mostly driven by horse power, though some large factories have steam apparatus for its manufacture. It should also be made without the use of any other clarifying reagent than heat. Sorghum sirup has a peculiar flavor which is not disagreeable to those accustomed to its use. It is extremely wholesome, highly nutritious, and palatable. It is a staple article of diet with thousands of families in the United States, principally in the northern and central portion. It rarely is made in the New England. states and not very often in those southern states where sugar cane can be

« 이전계속 »