The science of sugar
Natural sweetness
As sorghum syrup makers we are in the business of making sugar. What most people think of when you mention ‘sugar’ is white refined sugar. Sorghum syrup is far more complex and the sugar composition is not fixed.
To begin, sorghum syrup has three sugars, sucrose, glucose and fructose. Sucrose is also called invert sugar while glucose and fructose (and others) are referred to as simple sugars.
Glucose is a ‘monosaccharide’ (one sugar molecule) and is the least ‘sweet’ among the three sugars found in sorghum syrup. Glucose is also known as dextrose. Starch is a ‘polymer’ that consists of a string of glucose molecules linked together.
Fructose is a ‘monosaccharide’ that is very similar to glucose but it is about 50% sweeter than glucose.
Sucrose is what is found in refined sugar, it is ‘disaccharide’ composed of a molecule of glucose and a molecule of fructose. Sucrose is about 25% sweeter than glucose.
Sorghum syrup contains all three of these sugars with a ratio of (1:1:2) for glucose, fructose and sucrose. The actual ratio of glucose:fructose:sucrose can vary dramatically depending on variety, harvest time and post-press enzyme treatment (see below). All the sugar in sorghum syrup is natural and well delicious.
