AN OVERVIEW OF SUGARCANE: PRODUCTION, HARVESTING, BENEFITS, PRESERVATION, AND VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS

Anju Rimal, Bishal Thagunna and Jaspreet Kaur*

ABSTRACT

Sugarcane juice also known as common man's drink and is widely consumed as a refreshment energy drink, and popular drink in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Latin America. Sugarcane juice competes with other soft drinks in the market pushed by health-conscious consumers, and the sugarcane growers profit financially. Sugarcane juice is a popular beverage rich in phenols, flavonoids, and other radical scavenging compounds. Sugarcane juice is high in nutrients because it contains natural sugars, minerals such as iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and calcium, and organic acids such as malic acid, succinic acid, acotinic acid, amino acid, protein, starch, gums, waxes, and non-sugar phosphatides. Despite this numerous health benefits, it still underutilized in product formulation. The left over or waste (baggage) during the extraction of sugarcane juice is used for the manufacturing of biscuits. In this review various nutritional, health benefits, spoilage, preservation technique and product formulation from sugarcane juice is presented in order to maximize juice use in the future.

Keywords: Global status, nutritional composition, preservation, spoilage, health benefits, and value-added products.