Chemical Compositions of Japanese Traditional Refined Sugar (Wasanbo-to)

Abstract

Wasanbo-to is defined as an old type of refined sugar by the traditional procedure. The principal procedure for refining is based on the fact that impurities would mainly be absorbed on surface of crystals and easily removable by polishing with water. Each step of the purification and final preparations were analyzed. Besides sucrose, trace amount of glucose and fructose was detected by paper chromatography and the both sugars were assayed enzymatically with glucose oxidase-peroxidase and D-mannitol dehydrogenase, respectively. During refining procedure, glucose, fructose and ashes were gradually decreased. Analyses of final preparations were as follows: moisture, 0.30-0.81%; sucrose, 94.8-99.3%; glucose, 0.13-0.44%; fructose, 0.20-0.68%; and ashes, 0.38-0.74%. Calcium, magnesium, sodium and trace amount of silica, iron, cupper and aluminium were detected in each ash.