Granular detail: food grade cane molasses

Cane molasses is a dark, viscous and robustly flavoured sugar syrup used in a wide range of food, beverage and pharmaceutical applications. It is a by-product of the sugarcane refining process manufactured into an ingredient with functional properties that flavour, colour, texturise and give bulk to food, drinks and medicines. Molasses is also the base for other sugar products such as treacle, muscovado sugar and soft brown sugar.

Cane molasses is a sugar syrup manufactured from the liquid waste stream of the bulk sugarcane manufacturing process. When crystalline cane and white sugars are produced from sugarcane, the leftover liquid is a dark, viscous, bitter syrup sweetened by residual sucrose. This is raw molasses and, without further processing, is not suitable for human consumption. 

Molasses is unrefined, so it is high in a range of minerals and nutrients present in the original sugarcane plant. It is also rich in the organic molecules generated by repeated caramelisation, the thermal reaction that occurs when heating the sugar rich massecuite syrup to extract crystalline sugars. These include maltols, furans, caramelan, caramelen and caramelin, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that give molasses its dark colour and distinctive flavour.

In this article, we are focusing on molasses derived from sugarcane. There is a by-product resulting from the sugar beet refining process, but because of the chemicals present in the raw sugar beet and resulting bitter taste, beet molasses is only used in animal feeds.

Cane molasses requires further processing to become a functional ingredient in foods, beverages and medicines. Industrial quantities of sugarcane only grow in tropical and subtropical regions. Our globally sourced molasses, checked for quality at every stage, is shipped to the UK in bulk liquid vessels and stored in holding tanks before being transported by 30,000 litre temperature-controlled road tankers to the Ragus factory in Slough.

The unprocessed molasses may be stored for a further period in our on-site tank farm in heated tanks. It is then pumped into evaporating vats in the factory to begin the manufacturing process. The molasses is heated to over 80°C, purified and the sugar content and acidity levels are adjusted, depending on the exact formulation of the final product required.  

The resulting processed cane molasses is passed through a 300-micron filter to remove any remaining impurities and then cooled and matured in holding tanks. Once matured, the molasses is passed through an 80-micron filter and packed into 1,000 litre intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), or directly into 30,000 litre road tankers for direct delivery to our customers.

The provenance and processing of cane molasses provides it with unique functional properties that play a significant role in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical products where it is used.

There is residual sucrose in the syrup, as not all the sugar crystallises out and is removed in the refining process. The sucrose, combined with the caramelisation products maltol, furans, ethyl acetate and diacetyl from the repeated heating of the sugar to between 120^oC and 180^oC, gives a unique bittersweet flavour. The sweetness can be intensified as heating the raw cane molasses during manufacturing into a food product generates invert sugars, which have greater sweetness levels than sucrose.

Caramelan, caramelen and caramelin molecules, also the products of caramelisation, join together into long chain polymers to give molasses its rich dark colour. 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) is also created during caramelisation, a distinctly dark colourant and flavour often found in colas, beers and coffee.

The proportion of sucrose, invert sugar, moisture and organic non-sugars, including VOCs, gives molasses its thick viscous texture, bulk and mouthfeel. This balance of constituents that is adjusted during the manufacturing process can be formulated until the colour is almost black.

As a result of its specific functional properties, food grade cane molasses has a range of applications in food, beverage and pharmaceutical products. It is also a component in many sugar products, which benefit from molasses’ unique properties.

The dark colouring and intense flavour of molasses benefits biscuits such as ginger nuts, artisan breads and Christmas pudding. These features, plus the viscosity and texture, means molasses is a key ingredient of toffee, savoury sauces and marinades, in particular barbeque sauces.

The same dark colouring, bittersweet taste and mouthfeel mean it is used to produce beers such as stouts and porters, usually alongside caramels, and it the foundational ingredient in dark rums.

Different amounts of molasses blended with crystalline white sugar create soft brown light sugar and dark soft brown sugar, with both these ingredients using the molasses content to best advantage in baking, biscuits, desserts and beverages.

Ragus’ unique treacle recipes include molasses blended with refiner’s syrup. The result is a mellowed and lighter coloured syrup that is widely used in baking, confectionery, beverages, as a glaze, and in marinades, sauces and desserts. Treacles are often found in medicinal syrups, such as cough linctus.

Ragus supplies high-quality molasses to industrial food, beverage and pharmaceutical brands to enhance product flavours, textures and appearance. To learn more about our pure sugar products, contact our Customer Services Team. For more sugar news and Ragus updates, keep browsing SUGARTALK and follow Ragus on LinkedIn.