Influence of phenolic compounds on color formation at different stages of the VHP sugar manufacturing process

Abstract

Phenolic compounds are natural dyes contained in sugarcane juice and represent an important parameter in industrial processing, as they significantly affect the color formation of raw sugar. This study investigated the relationship between color formation and phenolic compounds during a Very High Polarization (VHP) sugar manufacturing process, in which the RB92579 genotype represents about 50% of the processed sugarcane. The products evaluated during the industrial processing of sugarcane were: raw juice, mixed juice, lime-treated juice, clarified juice, syrup, massecuite, and VHP sugar. The polyphenols catechin (CAT), chlorogenic acid (CGA), caffeic acid (CAF), vanillin (VAN), syringaldehyde (SYR), p-coumaric acid (p-COU), coumarin (CUM), and rutin (RUT) were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The highest concentrations of CGA and SYR were obtained from the sucrose crystallization product (massecuite), similarly to the parameters of color, total phenols and the total polyphenol content. CGA was the predominant polyphenol in the samples of clarified juice, syrup, massecuite and VHP sugar, with the latter presenting concentrations above 50%. The presence of phenolic compounds provided different indices of color during the production process. In this context, chlorogenic acid (CGA) was the compound that presented the most expressive results, contributing significantly to the formation of color in sugarcane processing products, which is a fact that has not yet been reported in the literature. The color of the VHP sugar crystals also had a positive relationship with the concentration of phenolics, with greater evidence for CGA.

Protective effects of sugarcane phenolic extract against lipid oxidative damages in raw ground pork and beef during refrigerated storage conditions

“…In a separate study, predominance of flavones such as apigenin, luteolin, and tricin derivatives as well as phenolic compounds such as hydroxycinnamic, caffeic and sinapic acids were identified in sugarcane juice representing a total content of around 160 mg/L [ 14 ]. Additionally, chlorogenic acid was the predominant polyphenol compound found in all by-products of sugarcane processing under Very High Polarization sugar manufacturing process [ 22 ].…”

Flavonoids and phenolic acids from sugarcane: Distribution in the plant, changes during processing, and potential benefits to industry and health

“…(Poly)phenol oxidase is active when the juice is released from the sugarcane culms and produces o ‐diphenols that impact the quality, taste, and color of sugarcane byproducts. The subsequent color that is produced, particularly increased by chlorogenic acid, increases the cost of the sugar refining step (Cabral et al., 2022).…”

Mechanism elucidation of color formation in sugarcane juice during enzymatic

“…Several scienti c studies have focused on understanding the enzymatic browning process in plants and foods (Pierpoint, 1969;Queiroz et al, 2008;Oliveira et al, 2022) and their impact on the operational costs of food manufacturing (Ogando et al, 2019;Cabral et al, 2022). However, there are few studies dedicated to elucidate the formation mechanisms of the colored compounds and their identi cation against crude enzymatic extracts used in white sugar manufacture.…”