# Non-Centrifugal Sugar (NCS) and Health: A Review on Functional Components and Health Benefits
## 2 Physical Properties  
Various types of unrefined sugar products have a lower pH value (pH 4.55-6.3) compared to refined sugars [17; 20]. Carbonation, i.e., the addition of limewater to remove impurities present in sugarcane juice, is responsible for the high pH of refined sugar. In contrast, the presence of different phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and natural preservatives, such as citric acid, in unrefined sugars can reduce pH values [17; 20]. The total soluble solids (TSS) value indicates the sweetness of unrefined sugar ranging from 9.60-25\({}^{\circ}\)Brix [1; 20]. The sweetness of NCS is not sharp as with pure sucrose, glucose, fructose, and artificial sweeteners due to the presence of other chemical components in the NCS, such as fat, protein, minerals and phytocompounds [1; 20]. Solubilities of NCS products were reported in the range (32.65-34.18%) [21]. NCS made from sugarcane have a color value ranging from 2641.7 to 32,600 IU [1; 17; 20; 21]. The color value of NCS from sugarcane was reported to be higher than unrefined sugar from palm and coconut [1]. The brown color in unrefined sugar is mainly because of the presence of molasses, amino acid and phytocompound pigments. In addition, the excessive utilization of lime in the purification process, destruction of sucrose, oxidation, and reduction of phytocompounds, and high temperature during the heating process could result in the browning of unrefined sugars [20]. Moisture content and water activity are two main properties of food products, indicating their shelf-life stability. Moisture content and water activity of NCS products ranged from 1.5-25.9% and 0.42 to 0.56, respectively [17; 20; 21]. The variation in moisture among unrefined sugar products is due to the differences in their processing conditions [19]. Unrefined cane sugar produced by an industrial method was recorded to have lower moisture content (2.08-3.96%) compared with cane sugar produced by traditional methods [1]. Besides, the moisture content was reported to be higher in NCS bricks (6.5%) compared to the granulated NCS (2.74 %) [22]. A high moisture content enhances the dissolution of crystals, cobblestone synthesis, microbial deterioration, and biochemical break-down reactions, all of which lessen the shelf life of sugars [20]. Unrefined sugar had high acidity of 0.55 % [21]. In other work, the acidity value of unrefined sugar was higher than that of refined sugar, indicating fewer processing and refining steps of the unrefined product [23]. Moreover, the high acidity of unrefined sugar makes it useful as a natural sweetener, whereby it helps control the acidity of a beverage added with unrefined sugar [23]. Generally, the physical properties of unrefined sugar are affected by several factors, including cane varieties, manufacturing process conditions such as open system (traditional method) and closed system (industrial method), time and temperature [1; 20]. Different methods of removal of impurities to purify raw juice also influence the characteristics of the unrefined sugar products where chemicals, such as calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide and polymers, are used in industrial production, while rough filtration is used in traditional production methods [1].