Coconut sugar

Coconut sugar(also known ascoco sugar,coconut palm sugar,coco sap sugarorcoconut blossom sugar) is apalm sugarproduced from the sap of the flower bud stem of thecoconut palm.
Other types of palm sugar are made from the kithul palm (Caryota urens),Palmyra palm, thedate palm, thesugar date palm, thesago palmor thesugar palm.
Used as a sweetener in many countries, coconut sugar has no significant nutritional or health benefits over other sweeteners.
Coconut sugar comes in crystal or granule form, block or liquid.
Producing coconut sugar is a two-step process.It starts with harvesting or "tapping"nectarfrom the flower bud stem of a coconut tree.Farmers make a cut on thespadixand the sap starts to flow from the cut into bamboo containers. The sap collected is then transferred into large woks and placed over moderate heat to evaporate the moisture content of the sap. The sap is translucent and is about 80% water. At this point it is known as coconutneeraornira(Indonesia), and as coconut toddy (Sri Lanka),namwan maphrao(Thailand), orlagbi(North Africa). As the water evaporates, it starts to transform into a thick sap syrup.From this form, it may or may not be further reduced to crystal, block or soft paste form.
The brown colour which develops as the sap is reduced is mostly due tocaramelization.
Coconut sugar is widely used in Sri Lanka as an unrefined syrup or asjaggery, referred to aspol hakuru(පොල් හකුරු), though the jaggery made from the Kithul palm is preferred.
InIndonesian cuisinecoconut sugar is calledgula jawa(Javanese sugar) orgula merah(red sugar), whilegula arenrefers to palm sugar specifically made fromaren palm.Some Indonesian foodstuffs are made with coconut sugar, includingkecap manis(a sweetsoya sauce) anddendeng(a meat preparation).
Gula melakais aSoutheast Asianname for palm sugaror "malacca sugar",probably named for its origin in the state ofMalacca,Malaysia.It is usually derived from coconut palms, but sometimes from other palms.It is used insavorydishes, but mainly in localdessertsand cakes of the Southeast Asian region.
Coconut sugar is subtly sweet almost likebrown sugarbut with a slight hint of caramel.  The flavor and sweetness is usually similar totable sugaror brown sugar.However, since coconut sugar is not highly processed, the color, sweetness and flavor can vary depending on the coconut species used, season when it was harvested, where it was harvested and/or the way the "sap" or "toddy" was reduced.
Although its use as a sweetener has become more common in developed countries,there is no scientific evidence that coconut sugar is more nutritious or healthier than any other sweetener. Thenutritive valueis similar to theempty caloriesfound intable sugarorbrown sugar.The principalcarbohydratesof coconut sugar aresucrose(70–79%),glucose, andfructose(3–9% each).Coconut sugar also containsmannose,inositolandamino acids. Presumably due to the heat during cooking, it further containspyroglutamatein comparatively high concentrations.
Aglycemic index(GI) of 35 for coconut sugar was reported by thePhilippine Coconut Authority, and by that measure it is classified as a low glycemic index food.However, theUniversity of Sydney(Australia) Glycemic Index Research Service measured the GI of coconut sugar to be 54,and considers any GI over 55 to be high.