Abstract
With an increasing demand for coconut neera and its value-added products, attributed to its low glycemic index and its potential as a diabetes-friendly alternative to cane sugar, there is a need for standardized large-scale production methods. However, the diverse regional and traditional practices in neera sugar preparation pose challenges in establishing regulatory and quality standards. To address this, a pilot-scale neera processing unit was established. This study focuses on determining the optimal coconut neera syrup concentration (70, 74, and 78° Brix) for maximizing neera sugar crystal yield, investigating subsequent physiochemical, nutritional, and thermal property changes to enhance the understanding of neera sugar production. The study found a positive relationship between sugar syrup concentration and crystal yield, with 70, 74, and 78° Brix neera syrups producing 14.62 ± 0.57, 22.89 ± 0.25, and 26.48 ± 0.88 g of sugar crystals, respectively, after 25 days. Correspondingly, sucrose content at 70, 74, and 78° Brix increased to 4995.785, 5144.819, and 6164.89 mg/L, respectively. XRD analysis indicated higher crystallinity in crystals from 78° (98.25%) and 74° (97.34%) Brix syrup compared to 70° Brix syrup (83.09%). Crystals from 70° Brix neera syrup had the lowest melting point at 167.31 °C, while purer crystals from 74° Brix and 78° Brix neera syrups reached maximum melting points of 179.33 and 182.90 °C, respectively. Additionally, crystals from 70° Brix syrup exhibited a higher mineral content (Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, and Zn). These findings offer valuable insights into optimizing neera sugar production for increased yield and desirable product characteristics.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Management, Thanjavur (NIFTEM-T), and Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, for their support.
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Anbarasan Rajan helped in conceptualization; data curation; formal analysis; investigation; methodology; software; validation; visualization; and writing—original draft. Ramyaa RB helped in data curation; formal analysis; and methodology. Mahendran Radhakrishnan helped in conceptualization; methodology; funding acquisition; project administration; resources; supervision; validation; and writing—review & editing.
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This work was supported by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, under Grant GAP-050.
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Anbarasan, R., Ramyaa, R.B. & Mahendran, R. Effect of Variations in the Concentration of Coconut Neera Syrup on Sugar Crystals Yield and Subsequent Physiochemical, Nutritional, and Thermal Property Changes. Sugar Tech 26, 851–861 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-024-01412-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-024-01412-1