JAGGERY

Jaggery is unrefined natural sugar that is produced without adding any chemicals. More than 70% of the total world jaggery production is done in India. During my vacation in India (2006), I visited a small scale jaggery production site at the outskirts of my hometown. The sugarcane farm belongs to our neighbor. The sugarcane juice along with crushed ginger and lemon is a refreshing drink in India. My parents never allowed me to drink due to the potential contamination by water, flies or air pollutants which may in turn result in diseases like cholera or dysentery. However, we enjoyed the drink at these private small scale jaggery production sites.

In the pictures below, you can see the sugarcane farm as well as the site of the jaggery production. First, the sugar cane is crushed to extract the juice. The impurities from the juice are removed by straining. The juice is then poured into a large open pan and then heated on a huge stove to remove excess water. Finally, it is transfered to a large container and is allowed to cool. Before it completely dries out, the workers make the jaggery into balls or into the desired shapes. By the way, the sugarcane wastes are in turn used as fuel for the stove or used as fertilizers.






Benefits of jaggery
Jaggery is popularly known as the “medicinal sugar” and is nutritionally comparable with honey. It has been used as a sweetener in Ayurvedic Medicine for 3000 years. Indian Ayurvedic medicine considers jaggery to be beneficial in treating throat and lung infections.
While refined sugar mainly consists of glucose and fructose, jaggery contains glucose and sucrose. But jaggery also has minerals and vitamins which is lacking in the refined sugar. The mineral content of jaggery includes calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and iron and traces of zinc and copper. The vitamin content includes folic acid and B-complex vitamins. Thus, other than that it is a good source of energy, it also prevents rheumatic afflictions; prevents disorders of bile; helps in relieving fatigue, relaxation of muscles, nerves and blood vessels; maintains blood pressure and reduces water retention; increases hemoglobin level and prevents anaemia.