Natural Sweeteners and Safe Natural Fruit Sweeteners

It is natural to have a sweet tooth; it signifies the presence of your sweet taste buds. Natural sugar provides the body with abundant easily assimilated energy and a felling of satiety which can not be achieved by anything else. Eliminating sugar from the diet is almost impossible for some individuals, the answer for which is natural sweeteners. Natural sweeteners are currently studied for the anti bacterial and anti viral properties and when used in moderation can add a new dimension to life, here is the way how?

• Barley malt syrup – is made from sprouted whole barley and has 30% complex carbohydrates and 65% maltose and 3% protein. It is thick, sticky dark brown syrup and has a distinct flavor like molasses.
  It provides 2 calories per gram that is half of that of white table sugar.
• Brown rice syrup - is made from sprouted whole barley, fermented whole brown rice and various enzymes. It has 37% complex carbohydrates and 50% maltose. It has a mild butterscotch taste and can be easily used to substitute white sugar. It provides 2 calories per gram.
• Granulated brown rice sweetener – can be made by drying brown rice syrup or by the combination of dried brown rice syrup and concentrate of powdered grape juice. It has a light brown color and can be effectively used to replace sugar in baked products. It has around 33% of complex carbohydrates.
• Fruit sweetener or concentrate – it generally includes fruit concentrates of apple juice or grape juice along with a blend of pear peach or pineapple juice. As it is derived from fruit juice and fruit concentrates it has simple sugars like sucrose, fructose and glucose of fruits. It has a fruity taste and an amber color which can be used effectively in baked products.
• Granulated cane juice – is made from sugar cane juice which is filtered and dehydrated. Compared to other natural sweeteners it has more vitamins and minerals as it is less refined. It has mainly sucrose and invert sugar and has a brown color and molasses like taste.

Honey: Rich Source of Natural Sweeteners

• Honey – is derived from the glands of honeybees that suck nectar from the flowers. The taste and color of honey would largely depend on the flower from which the nectar is collected by the bees. Honey although a natural sweetener is 20-60% sweeter than table sugar.
• Maple syrup – is derived from the sap of maple trees. To produce 1 gallon of maple syrup, 40-50 gallons of sap are required. It has a distinct maple flavor and is dark brown in color. Maple syrup is high in calcium and potassium with 60% sucrose and invert sugar. A maple syrup granule is a dehydrated maple syrup with 93% sucrose and 1-3% invert sugar.
• Molasses – is a byproduct of refined brown, white or turbinado sugar. Blackstrap molasses is rich in vitamin and mineral and is the liquid left over after last sugar extraction.