| Total Solids. | Sucrose. | Dextrose. | Levulose. | Ash. | Albumi- noids. | Amids. | Acids and Gums. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | Percent. | |
| First, | 80.00 | 53.60 | 8.76 | 8.00 | 4.00 | 0.20 | 0.94 | 4.50 |
| Second, | 80.00 | 41.70 | 12.20 | 12.50 | 5.35 | 0.25 | 1.50 | 6.50 |
| Third | 80.00 | 31.70 | 15.00 | 16.50 | 6.30 | 0.30 | 2.00 | 8.20 |
The increasing content of dextrose and levulose, of ash, acids, and gums, and the decreasing content of sucrose or pure sugar are characteristic of the second and third molasses.
The above analyses show the progressive change in molasses due to the separation of the successive portions of sugar and indicate the lowering of the quality of the molasses, at least for food purposes, as the separation of the sugar becomes more complete. It is evident that in the manufacture of sugar in this way, in which very probably an effort is made to get the highest possible yield, the resulting final molasses is a substance quite unfit for human consumption.
Sugar-house Molasses.
—Attention has already been called to the production of sugar-house molasses or sugar refinery molasses. This is a product which in its physical appearance is far superior to the third molasses of the sugar factory and this superiority is due to the fact that all suspended matter in the refined molasses has been separated by filtration. In so far as soluble materials which are not food is concerned, however, the refinery molasses contains even larger proportions than the sugar factory molasses. The refinery molasses is not usually considered suitable for food except when diluted as has been before indicated in the way of mixing sirup.
Mixed Sirups.
—By far the greater part of the sirups used in the United States are mixtures of two or more saccharine substances. The glucose of commerce is the base and perhaps chief constituent of the most of these mixtures. The glucose, being colorless and of a thick body, forms an ideal base as far as physical properties are concerned, for a table sirup. The quantity used varies very largely, but in general the glucose constitutes by far the larger percentage of the mixed product. Since glucose has only a very slightly sweet taste and is devoid of the general palatable properties which make a sirup attractive, it is colored and flavored with the product of the sugar cane or the maple tree. Sorghum sirup is also used very extensively in mixing. The process of mixing is an extremely simple one. The glucose is warmed until it is easily workable and the added sirups or molasses which are used for coloring and flavoring mixed intimately with it. In large factories this is done by mechanical mixers while in a small way it may be done by hand. Instead of glucose, one sirup itself may be used as the base and mixed with another for flavor, as, for instance, in the case of mixed maple sirup. Very commonly the brown sugar is melted with water and this is used as a base for the formation of sirups. Whichever may be the case the principle of the process remains the same, namely, using as the base a cheaper and less palatable material and flavoring and coloring with the more expensive and more palatable material. From a dietetic and commercial point of view there can be no valid objection raised to this method of mixing sirups. The product is, as a rule, attractive, palatable, and wholesome.
Attention has already been called to the fact that the final molasses in the sugar refinery, after all the sugar has been extracted that can possibly be gotten out by the most approved modern process, is used very extensively for mixing purposes. This molasses has a very high content of soluble salts, reaching often 8 percent or more, which gives a distinct flavor and character. It also has acquired a certain flavor from repeated filtering over bone-black and in general has a strong and pronounced flavor which gives it a peculiar value as a flavoring agent. It is also a clear product, free from suspended matter by reason of its repeated filtration. It can thus be mixed with glucose and forms a bright mixture, devoid of suspended matter and turbidity, and is attractive to the eye. Ten percent of molasses of this kind added to a glucose will make a mixture which is attractive and salable, and, it may also be added, palatable. The other products which are used for mixing with the glucose in the manufacture of table sirup consist of the molasses obtained from cane sugar factories or the sirups made directly from the sugar cane and sorghum. All these bodies have valuable mixing properties and small quantities of them give sufficient color and flavor to the mixed product.
Adulteration of Mixed Sirups.
—The adulteration of mixed sirups consists chiefly of adulterations that are in the materials from which they are made. Glucose itself often contains sulfurous acid used for bleaching in the process of manufacture. It also contains considerable quantities of sulfate or chlorid of lime incident to its manufacture and coming from the sulfuric or hydrochloric acid used in the hydrolysis of the starch from which it is made. The molasses which is used for coloring and flavoring may also contain injurious substances. For instance, sulfurous acid is very extensively used in the manufacture of cane sugar and this acid becomes concentrated in the molasses. Lime is used very extensively in the clarification of the juices and this lime is not wholly separated but some of it is concentrated in the molasses. A moderate amount of lime, however, is not objectionable. Salts of tin are frequently employed in washing the sugar in a centrifugal and these salts are found concentrated in the molasses. The excess of bluing which is used in the centrifugal is also found in the molasses. Various forms of acid phosphates are frequently employed in the clarifying of the cane juices and a part of these is also found concentrated in the molasses. In fact the molasses from sugar cane factories very frequently contains such quantities of these added substances as to render it unfit for human consumption. It is true that these substances are diluted when mixed with glucose, but this is not a sufficient excuse to warrant their employment. It is possible to obtain unobjectionable sirups and molasses for mixing purposes and manufacturers should be held strictly to account if this is not done. In so far as has come to my knowledge there are no adulterants directly added to the mixed sirups except for bleaching purposes.