Circular Sustainability of Sugarcane: Natural, Nutritious, and Functional Unrefined Sweeteners That Meet New Consumer Demands

Sucrose has been greatly scrutinized in the past decade mainly for its calories, even though sales have increased globally and it still remains sustainable as the gold standard of sweeteners as well as the most widely used sweetener. Ironically, the present and accelerating consumer-driven trend toward healthier, sustainably produced, and more natural foods and ingredients has started to further redeem sucrose and less refined sugars from sugarcane as natural sweeteners. Natural sweeteners, as compared to artificial and highly processed calorie sweeteners, are the least processed and contain a greater range and higher quantity of nutrients, including antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins. Unrefined, brown sugars from sugarcane are having huge growth as natural sweeteners. They include centrifuged and non-centrifuged cane sugars that are markedly less expensive yet equally if not more nutritious than other natural sweeteners, including solid sugars from coconut palm, honey, maple, date, stevia, and monk fruit. In response to these new consumer demands, the sugarcane industry is increasingly implementing sustainable practices to supply natural cane sugars, following a circular (evergreen or 360-degree) approach which spans the entire product life cycle.