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History of Sweeteners -The Confectionery Industry

History of Sweeteners -The Confectionery Industry

The Confectionery

Confectionery is the art of making sweets, which are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Generally, the confectionery is alienated into two broad categories, i.e., bakers’ and sugar confections. Flour sweets which are also known as baker confections principally include cakes, pastries, sweets, pancakes, and similar baked goods. On the other side, sugar confectionery includes candies which are normally called sweets in American and British English and these include candies, chocolates, gums, sweet tortillas, and other goods made mainly with sugar. Whereas chocolates are sometimes considered as separate category because they have sugar free versions to suit people with diabetes and other diseases. The words sweets’ (UK and Ireland), candy (US and Canada), and lollies (Australia and New Zealand) are the most common varieties of sugar confectionery. The traditional confectionery of items goes back to early times and is continued to be consumed in the middle era and as well as in the modern ages.

When refined sugar was not freely available in the market in ancient times, people used honey as a medium of sweets while making confectionery items. Ancient Egypt, China, India, Greece and Rome used honey to coat fruits and flowers to preserve them or creating sweetmeats. Between the 4th and 6th centuries and BC, the Persians, made contact with the Indian subcontinent and its “reeds that produce honey without bees”. They adopted then sugarcane agriculture which is indigenous to tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

If we talk about early history of sugar usage in Europe, it was initially the apothecary who had the most important role in the production of sugar-based preparations. The Medieval European physicians erudite the medicinal uses of the material from the Byzantine Greeks. One Middle Eastern remedy for Chills, Rheums and Fevers were little, twisted sticks of pulled sugar called in Arabic al fänäd and these became known in England as alphenics, or more commonly as pennet, penids, penidia, or pan sugar. They were the precursor of modern cough drops. In 1390, the Earl of Derby paid “two shillings for two pounds of penydes.” Then Jordan almonds, sugar-coated nuts or spices for non-medicinal purposes marked the beginning of confectionery in late medieval England.

An early Medieval Latin name for an apothecary was confectionarius, and it was related to sugar-work activities and of the two trades overlapped and that the word “confectionery” originated. Some of the notable products that are considered as a necessary ingredients of confectionery items are;

Hi-Fructose Syrup

The fructose syrup is produced by our top-notch engineers using rice or tapioca as a base. Its sweetness and ability to blend well with confectionery items makes it a must—have ingredient in baking industry.

Low-Sugar Syrup

The low sugar syrup is used to as a direct replacement for traditional glucose syrup. It is produced through thorough hydrolysis of tapioca starch and serves with great benefits and taste without high sugar content.

Tapioca Starch

It contains a large amount of carbohydrates that slowly breaks down in the body. It is derived using a rice or tapioca base, adds a feeling of “chewiness” to its applications and contributes towards better taste and texture and serves as a gluten-free thickener and stabilizer used in multiple industries.

Brown Rice Syrup

It is made from the enzymatic treatment of rice using GMO free natural enzymes which is filtered and concentrated to heavy syrup. It is a healthy alternative to refined sugar and is gluten-free, hypoallergenic. The color of this rice syrup is a light amber, with a clean sweet flavor with flavor notes and light buttery in nature.

Conclusion

Baking and confectionery is not new to human and his craving to satisfy the taste buds always seeks a better product tasting great without ignoring the health. We hope that you find this article useful while exploring a brief about the confectionery industry. We listed out some of the important ingredients that are required to make the final baked product with delightful color taste and texture. At SGC, all these items are produced under the supervision of highly skilled engineers and go through our quality control department at every step to ensure a safe and healthy product is being manufactured.

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