the library

Cane sugar

Sweet & rich· sweetener

What it is

Cane sugar is the sugar extracted and crystallized from the juice of Saccharum officinarum, the sugarcane plant.

What it tastes like

On the nose: bitter, caramel; the house adds clean, molasses ✳. Among its measured molecules: acrylic acid, 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol, 2,2'-bifuran, cyclotene, 3-phenylfuran.

23 of 68 compounds on file carry a paper the library can cite.

• acetic acidaromaacidreads as pungent (PubChem)Measured in 37 of 341 ingredients.cite

  2778.13 ± 46.39 ng/g (Guangdong), 6350.81 ± 222.21 ng/g (Guangxi), 6432.09 ± 175.47 ng/g (Yunnan); text: 'one of the most abundant compounds in brown sugar, had the highest OAV and contributed sour aroma' — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 1, row 'acetic acid')
• benzaldehydearomaaldehydereads as burning aromatic taste (PubChem)Measured in 57 of 341 ingredients.cite

  57.98 ± 6.17 ng/g (Guangdong), 109.82 ± 6.24 ng/g (Guangxi), 50.92 ± 3.04 ng/g (Yunnan) — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 1, row 'benzaldehyde')
• benzoic acidtasteacidreads as bitterMeasured in 5 of 341 ingredients.cite

  3080.65 ± 130.04 ng/g (Guangdong), 3564.46 ± 241.54 ng/g (Guangxi), 4062.78 ± 303.13 ng/g (Yunnan) — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 1, row 'benzoic acid')
• 2,3-butanediolaromaalcoholreads as sweet taste (PubChem)Measured in 6 of 341 ingredients.cite

  265.09 ± 24.94 ng/g (Guangdong), 184.68 ± 20.31 ng/g (Guangxi), 76.15 ± 9.36 ng/g (Yunnan) — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 1, row '2,3-butanediol')
• 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenolaromaphenolMeasured in 7 of 341 ingredients.cite

  3571.11 ± 211.98 ng/g (Guangdong), 3749.85 ± 126.32 ng/g (Guangxi), 3296.40 ± 110.64 ng/g (Yunnan) — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 1, row '4-ethenyl-2-methoxyphenol')
• palmitic acidtasteacidreads as slight characteristic taste (PubChem)Measured in 11 of 341 ingredients.cite

  8039.99 ± 159.00 ng/g (Guangdong), 6586.75 ± 270.87 ng/g (Guangxi), 4432.49 ± 192.77 ng/g (Yunnan) -- the single highest-concentration acid measured in the study — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 1, row 'n-hexadecanoic acid')
• hexanalaromaaldehydereads as sharp, aldehyde (PubChem)Measured in 87 of 341 ingredients.cite

  399.76 ± 21.53 ng/g (Guangdong), 279.98 ± 19.85 ng/g (Guangxi), 313.08 ± 16.32 ng/g (Yunnan); text notes hexanal is a key aroma-active aldehyde contributing green odor — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 1, row 'hexanal')
• acrylic acidaromaacidMeasured in 1 of 341 ingredients.cite

  '2-propenoic acid was the other dominant acid identified and experienced an increasing trend from S60 to S-180 (0.14 to 6.06 ug/g), followed by a decreasing trend towards the end (S-240, 2.54 ug/g)' — Ge et al. 2021, Foods (Results, acids paragraph)
• cyclotenearomaMeasured in 2 of 341 ingredients.cite

  468.60 ± 24.21 ng/g (Guangdong), 482.48 ± 34.60 ng/g (Guangxi), 707.42 ± 68.00 ng/g (Yunnan); '2-Hydroxy-3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one has a strong caramel aroma and is one of the key odor compounds that contribute to the caramel odor in black tea, soy sauce and molasses' — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 1, row '2-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one'; claim sentence in Results)
• 2,4-di-tert-butylphenolaromaphenolMeasured in 1 of 341 ingredients.cite

  the only phenol detected through the whole process; decreasing trend from 6.70 ug/g at S-0 to 2.65 ug/g at the finished-product stage S-240; 'previously identified in sugarcane juice, grape berries, and pomelo juice' — Ge et al. 2021, Foods (Results, 'Changes in the Concentration Profiles of Alcohols' section (phenol paragraph))
• furfuryl alcoholaromaalcoholreads as bitter (PubChem)Measured in 16 of 341 ingredients.cite

  474.08 ± 15.80 ng/g (Guangdong), 480.63 ± 13.93 ng/g (Guangxi), 604.00 ± 40.01 ng/g (Yunnan) — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 1 'Volatile aroma components of brown sugars from different producing areas', row 'furfuryl alcohol')
• furfuralaromafuranreads as almond (PubChem)Measured in 34 of 341 ingredients.cite

  identified by GC-MS as part of the furans VOC group in Japanese/ASEAN NCS products (VN-Quang Ngai had the highest furans proportion, 32.58% of total VOCs); no individual compound figure given in the article text — Ayustaningwarno et al. 2023, Foods (Results, paragraph on furans, describing the group composed of 'furfural, 2-acetyl-furan, and 2-furanmethanol')
• 2,6-dimethylpyrazinearomapyrazineMeasured in 7 of 341 ingredients.cite

  5.9 ug/100g in the JP-Kagoshima1 sample (labelled 2,6-DMP) — Ayustaningwarno et al. 2023, Foods (Results, paragraph on pyrazines in the JP-Kagoshima1 NCS sample)
• hexanoic acidaromaacidMeasured in 25 of 341 ingredients.cite

  300.51 ± 7.89 ng/g (Guangdong), 597.73 ± 14.47 ng/g (Guangxi), 487.13 ± 17.43 ng/g (Yunnan) — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 1, row 'hexanoic acid')
• isovaleric acidaromaacidreads as acid taste (PubChem)Measured in 9 of 341 ingredients.cite

  1633.63 ± 125.32 ng/g (Guangdong), 1076.75 ± 113.20 ng/g (Guangxi), 645.70 ± 71.56 ng/g (Yunnan); sour aroma, reported as a key aroma component in Japanese sweet rice wine as well — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 1, row '3-methylbutanoic acid')
• dimethylhydroxy furanonearomareads as caramel flavor (PubChem)Measured in 7 of 341 ingredients.cite

  271.76 ± 26.35 ng/g (Guangdong), 326.77 ± 19.05 ng/g (Guangxi), 454.38 ± 18.37 ng/g (Yunnan); '2,5-Dimethyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)-furanone has the highest OAV and contributes a strong caramel flavor to brown sugar, which is most likely formed by the Maillard reaction through deoxy sugars' — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 1, row '2,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)-furanone'; claim sentence in Results)
• 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazinearomapyrazineMeasured in 6 of 341 ingredients.cite

  '2,6-Dimethyl-3-ethylpyrazine exhibited the highest OAV due to its low threshold (OT=0.04 ng/g), contributing a strong roasted potato flavor to brown sugar.' Table 2 lists its OAV as 1995 / 4654 / 10,305 across the three regions' sample sets — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Results, claim sentence on OAV of key odor compounds)
• 2,5-dimethylpyrazinearomapyrazineMeasured in 10 of 341 ingredients.cite

  12.8 ug/100g in the JP-Kagoshima1 sample (labelled 2,5-DMP), the sample's second-highest pyrazine after total pyrazines reached 65.5% of its VOC profile; 'can occur during Strecker degradation of glucose, causing distinctive nutty and roasted odors' — Ayustaningwarno et al. 2023, Foods (Results, paragraph on pyrazines in the JP-Kagoshima1 NCS sample)
• 2,2'-bifuranaromaMeasured in 1 of 341 ingredients.cite

  3.98 ug/g detected at the finished-product stage S-240, described as 'good alternatives of spicy odor to complement the predominant sweet-caramel odor' — Ge et al. 2021, Foods (Results, 'Changes in the Concentration Profiles of Heterocyclic Compounds')
• 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4-onearomaetherMeasured in 3 of 341 ingredients.cite

  'The only compound in this group was 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one (DDMP), which was detected in high levels in Malaysian and Indonesian NCS products... primarily a bitter compound.' No in-text figure given — Ayustaningwarno et al. 2023, Foods (Results, paragraph on pyranones)
• 3-phenylfuranaromafuranMeasured in 2 of 341 ingredients.cite

  4.07 ug/g detected at the finished-product stage S-240 — Ge et al. 2021, Foods (Results, 'Changes in the Concentration Profiles of Heterocyclic Compounds')
• 5-methyl-2-furanmethanolaromafuranMeasured in 3 of 341 ingredients.cite

  0.83 to 2.10 ug/g from processing stage S-210 to the finished product S-240; 'pleasant bready... characteristic' — Ge et al. 2021, Foods (Results, 'Changes in the Concentration Profiles of Heterocyclic Compounds')
• 2-NonenalaromaaldehydeMeasured in 22 of 341 ingredients.cite

  56.20 ± 2.12 ng/g (Guangdong), 95.35 ± 2.05 ng/g (Guangxi), 68.21 ± 4.20 ng/g (Yunnan); text: '(E)-2-nonenal and hexanal are probably oxidation products of polyunsaturated fatty acids... key aroma compounds among aldehydes, contributing to the green odor of brown sugar' — Chen et al. 2022, Molecules (Table 1, row '(E)-2-nonenal')