Jaggery is the sugarcane based traditional Indian sweetener. At present, 24.5% of the cane produced in India is being utilized for producing jaggery. Jaggery is nutritious and easily available to the rural people. Compared to white sugar, it requires low capital in production and is manufactured at the farmer’s individual units itself. Of the total world production, more than 70% of the jaggery is produced in India. To meet the future sweetener requirement, the scope of jaggery seems to be promising.
Jaggery is a wholesome diet. It contains 0.6%-1.0% minerals; important among them are iron (11mg %), calcium (0.4%), magnesium and phosphorous (0.045%). Jaggery also contains reducing sugars including glucose and fructose (10-15%), protein (0.25%), and fat (0.05%). Daily use of jaggery may increase human life span. Incidence of less diabetes is reported in jaggery consuming areas compared to sugar consuming areas. The nutritive value of jaggery as compared to sugar is presented
