Jaggery
Jaggery is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of
the molasses and crystals, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in colour. It contains
upto 50% sucrose, upto 20% invert sugars and up to 20% moisture, with the remainder made up of
other insoluble matter, such as wood ash, proteins and bagasse fibres.
Jaggery is used as an ingredient in sweet and savoury dishes in the cuisines of India and other
countries. Kolhapur is one of the largest producers of jaggery in India and has a GI tag for
jaggery. It is a type of sugar that is not heavily refined, so it still contains a significant
amount of molasses.
Jaggery is healthier and it contains - calories, proteins, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, sugar and
also calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus etc. Jaggery is an excellent source of iron.