Brazilian Sugar

Brazilian Sugar - Introduced during the colonial period, the sugarcane has become one of the main crops of the Brazilian economy. Brazil is not only the largest producer of sugar cane, but also the first in the world in the production of sugar and ethanol and conquest, increasingly, the foreign market with the use of biofuels as an energy alternative.

The sugarcane is an example of renewable and versatile culture, which can be used as a source of clean energy and raw material products. Brazil is now the world's largest producer of sugarcane. The modernization of 430 plants in operation in the country, with the adoption of new technologies from planting to the production of sugar, ethanol and bioelectricity, strengthened the sector, recognized worldwide for its pioneering and productive efficiency.

Responsible for more than half the sugar traded in the world, the country should achieve average rate of increase in production of 3.25% until 2018/19, and reap 47.34 million tonnes of iron ore, which corresponds to an increase of 14.6 million tonnes for the period 2007/2008. For exports, the volume planned for 2019 is 32.6 million tons. It is responsible for 490 million tons of sugarcane per year (2011/2012) and about 90% of the Brazilian production of sugar cane is harvested in South-Central region, especially in São Paulo, which is accounting for 60%.

There are a few basic types of sugarcane:

Chewing canes - These are sugarcane varieties that have a soft, fibrous center which is good for chewing. The fibers tend to stick together as you chew so that spitting it out once the sugar is depleted is easier. Syrup canes.

Syrup canes - We have a variety of sugar types that don’t crystallize easily but are good for making sugar syrup. They are used commercially but also in the home garden.

Cristal canes - Crystal canes are largely commercial varieties with high concentrations of sucrose used to make crystallized table sugar.

About ICUMSA - ICUMSA is a world-wide body which brings together the activities of the National Committees for Sugar Analysis in more than thirty member countries. Work is carried out under various Subject headings, each headed by a Referee.

Methods are recommended for tentative approval by ICUMSA in the first instance. Upon meeting all of the Commission's requirements, methods are accorded official status. Methods which are demonstrably useful and have found an established application, or which do not lend themselves to collaborative testing are given an Accepted status.

An ICUMSA rating is an international unit for expressing the purity of the sugar in solution, and is directly related to the colour of the sugar. Be aware that there are different types of ICUMSA units. For Brazilian sugar, the lower the ICUMSA figure the whiter the sugar.