Coconut sugar (also known ascoco sugar,coconut palm sugar,coco sap sugar orcoconut blossom sugar) is apalm sugar produced from the sap of the flower bud stem of thecoconut palm.[1]
Other types of palm sugar are made from the kithul palm (Caryota urens),Palmyra palm, thedate palm, thesugar date palm, thesago palm or thesugar palm.
Used as a sweetener in many countries, coconut sugar has no significant nutritional or health benefits over other sweeteners.
Coconut sugar comes in crystal or granule form, block or liquid.[citation needed]
Producing coconut sugar is a two-step process.[2] It starts with harvesting or "tapping"nectar from the flower bud stem of a coconut tree.[3] Farmers make a cut on thespadix and the sap starts to flow from the cut into bamboo containers. The sap collected is then transferred into large woks and placed over moderate heat to evaporate the moisture content of the sap. The sap is translucent and is about 80% water. At this point it is known as coconutneera ornira (Indonesia),tinamís (Philippines), coconut toddy (Sri Lanka),namwan maphrao (Thailand), orlagbi (North Africa). As the water evaporates, it starts to transform into a thick sap syrup.[2] From this form, it may or may not be further reduced to crystal, block or soft paste form.[citation needed]
The brown colour which develops as the sap is reduced is mostly due tocaramelization.[2]
Coconut sugar is widely used in Sri Lanka as an unrefined syrup or asjaggery, referred to aspol hakuru (පොල් හකුරු), though the jaggery made from the Kithul palm is preferred.[citation needed]
InIndonesian cuisine coconut sugar is calledgula jawa (Javanese sugar) orgula merah (red sugar), whilegula aren refers to palm sugar specifically made fromaren palm.[1] Some Indonesian foodstuffs are made with coconut sugar, includingkecap manis (a sweetsoya sauce) anddendeng (a meat preparation).[2]
Gula melaka is aSoutheast Asian name for palm sugar[4] or "malacca sugar",[5] probably named for its origin in the state ofMalacca,Malaysia.[6] It is usually derived from coconut palms, but sometimes from other palms.[5] It is used insavory dishes, but mainly in localdesserts and cakes of the Southeast Asian region.[citation needed]
Coconut sugar is subtly sweet almost likebrown sugar but with a slight hint of caramel. The flavor and sweetness is usually similar totable sugar or brown sugar.[3][7] However, since coconut sugar is not highly processed, the color, sweetness and flavor can vary depending on the coconut species used, season when it was harvested, where it was harvested and/or the way the "sap" or "toddy" was reduced.[citation needed]
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Although its use as a sweetener has become more common in developed countries,[8] there is no scientific evidence that coconut sugar is more nutritious or healthier than any other sweetener. Thenutritive value is similar to theempty calories found intable sugar orbrown sugar.[3][7] The principalcarbohydrates of coconut sugar aresucrose (70–79%),glucose, andfructose (3–9% each).[3] Coconut sugar also containsmannose,inositol andamino acids. Presumably due to the heat during cooking, it further containspyroglutamate in comparatively high concentrations.[9]
Aglycemic index (GI) of 35 for coconut sugar was reported by thePhilippine Coconut Authority, and by that measure it is classified as a low glycemic index food.[10] However, theUniversity of Sydney (Australia) Glycemic Index Research Service measured the GI of coconut sugar to be 54,[11] and considers any GI over 55 to be high.[12]
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