Sugarcane juice is the liquid extracted from pressed sugarcane. It is consumed as a beverage in many places, especially where sugarcane is commercially grown, such as Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, North Africa, mainly Egypt, and also in South America. Sugarcane juice is obtained by crushing peeled sugar cane in a mill and is one of the main precursors of rum.
In the United States where processed sugarcane syrup is used as a sweetener in food and beverage manufacturing, "evaporated cane juice" is considered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be a misleading term for "sugar" on product labels because the FDA regards "juice" as a liquid derived from fruits or vegetables; the preferred term is "cane sugar". [1] [2]
There are some diseases that can be transmitted by raw sugar-cane, such as Leptospirosis. [3] In Brazil, sugarcane juice has been linked to cases of Chagas disease, as sugarcane can contain traces of its responsible pathogen, Trypanosoma cruzi , left by infected bugs if not properly cleaned. [4]
Drinking sugarcane juice in Egypt may pose health risks due to contamination with the mycotoxins, aflatoxin B1 and fumonisin B1. [5] [6]
Sugarcane juice, known locally as caldo de cana, [7] is commonly sold by street vendors in Brazil. [8] In a process similar to that of the street vendors of India, machines are used to press the sugarcane and the juice is extracted. [9] It is sometimes served with lemon or pineapple juice.
In Egypt, sugarcane juice is known as asab and is sold in juice shops around the country. The largest juice shop in Egypt is in Saft El Laban, Giza. Egyptians also mix lemon with asab and let it ferment to produce a fermented variant of the drink. The most highly prized asab comes from Minya, Egypt. [10]
Sugarcane juice is sold by street vendors throughout India. The vendors put the sugarcane in a machine, which presses and extracts the sugarcane juice out. Sugarcane juice is usually served with a dash of lime and/or ginger juice. It is a very popular drink, especially during summer months, as a refreshing form of heat relief. [11]
Before sugarcane was introduced to the southern region, it had already been cultivated for many centuries in Southeast Asia and India for its sweet juice, which was used to produce crude sugar. When Jesuit priests began growing sugarcane in what is now downtown New Orleans in 1751, they faced challenges in efficiently converting its juice into sugar due to the high costs, unreliability, and lack of profitability. However, by the 1790s, businessman Etienne de Bore, along with skilled sugar maker Antoine Morin from Santo Domingo, successfully refined sugarcane juice into granulated sugar, thereby achieving profitability in the process. [12]
In Indonesia, sugarcane juice drink is called minuman sari tebu. The iced sugar cane juice is called es tebu. [13] In Indonesian, tebu is sugarcane and es is ice. It is one of the traditional beverages commonly sold street-side in Indonesia. [14] The sugarcane plant has been cultivated in Java since ancient times. The earliest record comes from a 9th-century inscription, dated from the Medang Mataram period, that describes a sweet drink called Nalaka Rasa, which translates as "sugarcane juice". [15]
The juice is extracted using a pressing machine to squeeze the sugary sap from sugarcane. The machine might be human-powered, or powered by a gasoline engine or electricity. The juice sold there is always served cold with ice cubes. Traditionally, it is sold throughout the country, especially among street vendors that set their stall on the street side. Today, cleaner vendors work in food courts of malls and shopping centers. [16]
In the eastern region of Madagascar, sugarcane juice is fermented to make an inexpensive alcoholic beverage called betsa-betsa. The drink is popular with locals because it is cheaper than beer. [17]
In Myanmar, sugarcane juice is known as kyan ye (ကြံရည်) and is available throughout the country. [18] It is typically brewed during the summertime, and optionally blended with lime, jujube, or orange. [19]
In 2019, the government of Pakistan declared sugarcane juice to be Pakistan's "national drink". [20]
In the United States, where the FDA regulates the description of ingredients on food labels, the term "sugarcane juice" cannot be used because it misleads consumers to believe that cane juice is similar to fruit or vegetable juices. [2] Instead, the FDA recommends "cane sugar" or another term determined by manufacturers who should "review the final guidance and consider whether their labeling terminology accurately describes the basic nature and characterizing properties of the sweetener used". [1]
Sugarcane juice, known as nước mía or mía đá, is common in Vietnam as a drink. Other fruit juices may be added to balance the sweetness, such as kumquat [21] or chanh muối. It is sold at street stalls in plastic bags filled with ice or in disposable plastic cups. [22]
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double sugars, are molecules made of two bonded monosaccharides; common examples are sucrose, lactose, and maltose. White sugar is a refined form of sucrose. In the body, compound sugars are hydrolysed into simple sugars.
Cachaça is a distilled spirit made from fermented sugarcane juice. Also known as pinga, caninha, and other names, it is the most popular spirit among distilled alcoholic beverages in Brazil. Outside Brazil, cachaça is used almost exclusively as an ingredient in tropical drinks, with the caipirinha being the most famous cocktail. In Brazil, caipirinha is often paired with the dish feijoada.
Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central America, Pakistan, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in colour. It contains up to 50% sucrose, up to 20% invert sugars, and up to 20% moisture, with the remainder made up of other insoluble matter, such as wood ash, proteins, and bagasse fibres. Jaggery is very similar to muscovado, an important sweetener in Portuguese, British and French cuisine. The Kenyan Sukari ngutu/nguru has no fibre; it is dark and is made from sugarcane and also sometimes extracted from palm tree.
Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink.
Aguardente (Portuguese), or aguardiente (Spanish), is a type of distilled alcoholic spirit that contains between 29% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). It is a somewhat generic term that can refer to liquors made from various foods. It originates from and is typically consumed on the Iberian Peninsula and in Iberian America.
Muscovado is a type of partially refined to unrefined sugar with a strong molasses content and flavour, and dark brown in colour. It is technically considered either a non-centrifugal cane sugar or a centrifuged, partially refined sugar according to the process used by the manufacturer. Muscovado contains higher levels of various minerals than processed white sugar, and is considered by some to be healthier. Its main uses are in food and confectionery, and the manufacture of rum and other forms of alcohol. The largest producer and consumer of muscovado is India.
Cendol is an iced sweet dessert that contains droplets of pandan-flavoured green rice flour jelly, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. It is commonly found in Southeast Asia and is popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, and Myanmar. Next to the green jelly, additional toppings might be added, including diced jackfruit, sweetened red azuki beans, or durian.
Hibiscus tea is a herbal tea made as an infusion from crimson or deep magenta-colored calyces (sepals) of the roselle flower. It is consumed both hot and cold. It has a tart, cranberry-like flavor.
Tepache is a fermented beverage made from the peel and the rind of pineapples, and is sweetened either with piloncillo or brown sugar, seasoned with powdered cinnamon, and served cold. Though tepache is fermented for several days, the resulting drink does not contain much alcohol. In Mexican culinary practice, the alcoholic content of tepache may be increased with a small amount of beer.
Egyptian cuisine makes heavy use of poultry, legumes, vegetables and fruit from Egypt's rich Nile Valley and Delta. Examples of Egyptian dishes include rice-stuffed vegetables and grape leaves, hummus, falafel, shawarma, kebab and kofta. Others include ful medames, mashed fava beans; koshary, lentils and pasta; and molokhiya, bush okra stew. A local type of pita bread known as eish baladi is a staple of Egyptian cuisine, and cheesemaking in Egypt dates back to the First Dynasty of Egypt, with Domiati being the most popular type of cheese consumed today.
Pastel is the Spanish and Portuguese word for pastry, a sugary food, and is the name given to different typical dishes of various countries where those languages are spoken. In Mexico, pastel typically means cake, as with Pastel de tres leches. However, in different Latin American countries pastel can refer to very different sugary dishes, and even to non-sugary ones as well. In some places, like Brazil, a pastel can refer to both a sugary and non-sugary food, depending on the filling used.
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, perennial grass that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sucrose, which accumulates in the stalk internodes. Sugarcanes belong to the grass family, Poaceae, an economically important flowering plant family that includes maize, wheat, rice, and sorghum, and many forage crops. It is native to the warm temperate and tropical regions of India, Southeast Asia, and New Guinea.
Ginger tea is a herbal beverage that is made from ginger root. It has a long history as a traditional herbal medicine in East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Asia.
Alcohol in Indonesia refers to the alcohol industry, alcohol consumption and laws related to alcohol in the South East Asian country of Indonesia. Indonesia is a Muslim majority country, yet it is also a pluralist, democratic and secular nation. These social and demographic conditions led to Islamic parties and pressure groups pushing the government to restrict alcohol consumption and trade, while the government carefully considers the rights of non-Muslims and consenting adults to consume alcohol, and estimates the possible alcohol ban effects on Indonesian tourism and the economy.
Lahang is a traditional sweet and cold beverage from West Java, Indonesia, made from the sap of Arenga pinnata. The drink is commonly known in Indonesia; however, it is usually associated with the Sundanese of West Java. It is known as a traditional isotonic drink.
A pastel (pl. pastéis) is a typical Brazilian fast-food dish, consisting of half-circle or rectangle-shaped thin crust pies with assorted fillings, fried in vegetable oil. The result is a crispy, brownish fried pie. The most common fillings are ground meat, mozzarella, catupiry, heart of palm, codfish, cream cheese, chicken and small shrimp. Pastéis with sweet fillings such as guava paste with Minas cheese, banana and chocolate also exist. The pastel is classified in Brazilian cuisine as a salgado. It is traditionally sold on the streets, in open-air marketplaces, or in fast-food shops known as pastelarias. It is popularly said to have originated when Chinese immigrants adapted their traditional spring rolls to the Brazilian taste using local ingredients. The recipe was later popularized by Japanese immigrants that during World War II tried to pretend to be Chinese to escape from the prejudice Japanese people were facing because of the Japanese alliance during the war. Another theory was that Japanese immigrants adapted Chinese fried wontons to sell as snacks at weekly street markets. A common beverage to drink with pastéis is caldo de cana, a sugarcane juice.
Guarapo is a Latin American fermented alcoholic drink derived from sugarcane juice.