Many people may often hear about coconut sugar, a natural sweetener that many people believe is healthier than cane sugar. But unfortunately, some people are still confused even assume that the coconut sugar is the same as brown sugar due to the shape and color are almost the same. Although it looks almost the same both, but they are totally different when viewed from the origin.
ABOUT COCONUT SUGAR
Coconut sugar comes from the sap of coconut flower flowers that are collected and boiled to remove water content. Coconut sugar is made by a two-step process and can come in crystal or granule form, block or liquid. Coconut sugar can also be known as coco sugar, coconut palm sugar, coco sap sugar and coconut blossom sugar.
While brown sugar actually just refined white sugar with sugarcane molasses added in. For people who do not know they would be surprised because brown sugar is the processing of sugar cane. Which is not much different from the existing sugar cane. Brown sugar can go by many different names including light or dark brown sugar, demerara sugar, muscovado sugar, turbinado sugar and free-flowing brown sugar. Brown sugar can contain up to 10% molasses. 4.5% molasses is considered light brown sugar and 6.5% plus is considered dark brown sugar. Processing sugar increases chemical additives and dyes to change the consistency and appearance.
Nutritional Content : Brown Sugar vs Coconut Sugar
Brown sugar contains calcium, iron, copper, potassium phosphorus, manganese, and magnesium. And it’s owned brown sugar because of the added molasses content in the manufacturing process. Unlike brown sugar, Coconut sugar naturally contains vitamin C, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron and copper. Coconut sugar also contains inulin which is a type of dietary fiber. Inulin acts a prebiotic which nourishes the good bacteria already in your gut.
In a study by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute aiming to assess the glycemic index of sugar, coconut sugar has a lower glycemic index than brown sugar. This means coconut sugar increases blood glucose levels at a slower rate. This can be especially important to monitor if you have diabetes.
There are other differences when using them for cooking. Brown sugar can dissolve well in liquids and incorporates into solids used in baking such as butter. That’s because brown sugar is produced from refined cane sugar and becomes more moist due to the molasses Coconut sugar also has a caramel taste similar to brown sugar, but because it has a grain is not as smooth as brown sugar, it makes Coconut sugar does not blend as well with items such as butter and can leave baked goods spotted or grainy. Coconut sugar also has a sweet taste not as strong as brown sugar but has a unique aroma for the recipe.
If you ask what is better to use in the recipe? Both are almost the same, maybe that can be considered is you want to use a more healthy sugar or just need the perfect sugar for use in the recipe. The answer is yours.
Sugar is always sweet to be discussed, …
