What Is Rapadura Sugar, and Is It Healthier in Comparison to Other Sugars?

Rapadura sugar is a type of unrefined sugar. Rapadura is higher in antioxidants and minerals than other types of sugar.

Rapadura sugar is a type of unrefined sugar. Sugarcane juice is dehydrated and solidified to produce this sugar. The chief component is sucrose, much like cane sugar and table sugar. However, rapadura sugar is not refined by centrifugation and further purification. Since it is unrefined, it contains molasses, which gives it color and a characteristic flavor.

Many countries in South America and Asia produce rapadura sugar. It is an important component of these countries' food supply and school meals. The composition of rapadura sugar varies significantly from place to place and batch to batch since it is not refined or standardized. It contains several ingredients, both nutritious and potentially harmful. 

Other names for rapadura sugar are jaggery, kokuto, and sucanat. 

Sugars are simple carbohydrates that the body can digest and use to generate energy. Glucose, fructose, galactose, maltose, lactose, and sucrose are common sugars in food. The word "sugar" is commonly used for sucrose, and table sugar, commonly used in cooking, is 99.9% pure sucrose. Sucrose is a disaccharide sugar, meaning it is made of two monosaccharides — glucose and fructose.

Sucrose can't be immediately absorbed in your intestines. Your intestinal enzymes break it down into one molecule each of glucose and fructose, which are then absorbed. Meanwhile, your cells can't use fructose, so it has to be metabolized as glucose. Since some digestion is needed, your blood sugar level will spike less rapidly after eating sugar than after consuming glucose.

Sucrose is made mainly from two crops — sugar cane and sugar beet. These plants are harvested, crushed, clarified, and concentrated to yield sugar. The final product depends on purification and processing. A highly processed sugar is the white, refined table sugar that is commonly used in America. 

Rapadura sugar is, by its nature, not a consistent product. The amount of processing of each sample varies, and so does its content. Unlike sugar, which is purified sucrose, the chemical content of rapadura sugar varies:

• Sucrose: 29.47% to 98.85%
• Glucose: 1.13% to 29.78%
• Fructose: 0.13% to 20.14%

All types of sugar are mostly pure carbohydrates that provide approximately 4 calories per gram when metabolized. However, rapadura sugar also contains:

• Phenolic compounds
• Flavonoids
• Carotenoids

These bioactive compounds are valuable for health. They have potent antioxidant effects. Among various sugars tested, rapadura and molasses had the highest antioxidant activities. Processed sugars lose these compounds, though, and have less utility.

Rapadura sugar is made from the juice of sugarcane or sugar beet and has no dietary fiber. It also has almost no protein. Instead, it contains minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, and iron. Vitamins in rapadura sugar include vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, and vitamin C.

All sugars provide sweetness and energy. Highly refined sugars have eliminated all content other than sucrose, while less processed sugars retain other nutrients present in sugar cane and sugar beet.

Brown sugar is often used in cooking and baking. Unlike most rapadura sugar, it is highly refined sugar. The removed molasses are added back in controlled amounts for color and flavor. Like white table sugar, brown sugar is absorbed from your intestines and raises your blood sugar level.

Several other types of refined sugars are also available. All these sugars are purified sucrose. Though their appearance varies, they have the same nutritional value. Some of these sugars have specialty uses only:

• Cane sugar is also almost pure sucrose. It is refined from sugar cane juice.
• Lump sugar or sugar cubes are refined sugar crystals held together with sugar syrup.
• Demerara sugar is large-grained cane sugar. It is pale yellow because of sugar cane molasses. You'll use it mainly for home baking, but you can also use it in your coffee or tea.
• Icing sugar is very finely ground refined sugar.
• Preserving sugar is used to prevent bacterial growth in fruit and vegetable preserves.

The antioxidant activities of refined, crystal, demerara, brown sugars, rapadura, and molasses were tested, and rapadura and molasses had the highest capacities. They also displayed higher bioactive and mineral contents.

Apart from these bioactive molecules, rapadura sugar also has a distinctive taste. Rapadura sugar contains sucrose and other sweet sugars. It sweetens your beverages and food as much as refined sugars that contain only sucrose. 

Since rapadura sugar is unrefined, it contains several compounds apart from sucrose. These include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which are a risk for cancer. PAHs are not part of sugarcane, but they commonly contaminate the sugar during the burning and production process.

The processing of sugar, especially evaporation and concentration, can generate toxic molecules like acrylamide. Excess quantities of this compound damage the nervous and immune systems. Liver damage may occur. Acrylamide also causes cancer and harms babies in the womb. It may contaminate foods like fries, biscuits, potato chips, bread, and sugar. Dark brown sugars have high concentrations of acrylamide. 

Any sugar you add to your food counts as added sugar. This includes rapadura sugar, other unrefined sugars, and refined sugars. All of these sugars add calories to your diet and provide very few other nutrients. Too much sugar in your food harms your health, with potential effects like obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Adults should restrict their added sugar intake to 30 grams a day. That's equal to 7 sugar cubes or 6 teaspoons of sugar. Fruit, vegetables, and milk also contain sugars, but you typically needn't cut down your intake of these. 

Rapadura has less sucrose than refined sugars but much more glucose and fructose. Rapadura is made from sugar cane juice. The final processing and refining steps are left out, allowing several components of the sugarcane to remain. Though rapadura provides you with vitamins and minerals, it isn't a great source of these nutrients. You'd normally eat only a spoonful of sugar at a time, which won't provide much minerals or vitamins.

Overall, sugar and sugary drinks are considered empty calories — i.e., calories without substantial nutrients. Rapadura sugar has more nutrients than refined sugar, but it is still a poor source of those nutrients. Eating rapadura sugar for its iron or calcium will only load you with calories. The reduced processing also leaves potentially hazardous compounds in rapadura sugar, which may harm your health.