Characteristics of specialty and physiologically-enhanced refined sugars produced in Mauritius favourable for good health

Abstract

Glycaemic Index (GI) measurements of Mauritian specialty sugars were studied in collaboration with GI testing laboratories in South Africa and in the United Kingdom. While most of the specialty sugars fell in the “Intermediate GI” category of food, one product clearly showed a tendency towards “Low GI” and had a high antioxidant activity, giving it a good potential for commercialisation as a high value product. This specialty sugar also compared favourably with low GI sugar commercialised elsewhere. Promising technologies were developed for extracting and isolating active compounds from sugarcane with high antioxidant activity and used to enhance the physiological and nutritional value of refined sugar. The results provided direct evidence of the potential for producing a low GI, high antioxidant product by blending with active antioxidant compounds extracted.