Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Food Processing and Sensory Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #357231
Research Project: Nutritional and Sensory Properties of Rice and Rice Value-Added Products

Location: Food Processing and Sensory Quality Research

Title: A Comparison of the Macronutrient and Mineral Composition of Sweet Sorghum and Other Commercial Syrup Sweeteners

Author
item Eggleston, Gillian
item Triplett, Alexa
item Bett Garber, Karen
item Boue, Stephen
item Bechtel, Peter
item BICE, DOUGLAS - United Sorghum Checkoff

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/31/2019
Publication Date: 11/6/2019
Citation: Eggleston, G., Triplett, A., Bett Garber, K.L., Boue, S.M., Bechtel, P.J., Bice, D. 2019. A Comparison of the Macronutrient and Mineral Composition of Sweet Sorghum and Other Commercial Syrup Sweeteners. Meeting Proceedings. 2018,vol.2.

Interpretive Summary: Knowledge of the nutritional and dietary content of sweet sorghum syrups as compared to other common food-grade syrups, will facilitate its large-scale marketing as a nutritional sweetener. Typical food and beverage attributes as well as key minerals were measured in commercial high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), corn, honey, maple, agave, rice, and grain sorghum syrups (three brands each) and compared to ten commercial sweet sorghum syrups. Agave syrup was the highest source of fat. The protein content of sweet sorghum syrups ranged from 0.9 to 4.0%, and the mean value (1.80%) was nearly two-fold higher than for the other syrups (0.96%). Overall, sweet sorghum syrups were rich dietary sources of magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, plant protein, and contained negligible sodium.

Technical Abstract: American consumers are currently asking for healthful, clean label, and minimally-processed sweeteners. This has set the stage for the introduction of sweet sorghum syrup as a healthy liquid sweetener, produced commercially in volume by modern practices. Sweet sorghum syrup is non-GMO, gluten-free, and can be produced free of additives and preservatives. Knowledge of the nutritional and dietary content of sweet sorghum syrups compared to other common food-grade syrups, will facilitate its marketing as a nutritional sweetener. Proximate food and beverage attributes as well as key minerals were measured in commercial high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), corn, honey, maple, agave, rice, and white grain sorghum syrups (three brands each) and compared to ten commercial sweet sorghum syrups. Agave syrup contained the highest (P<0.05) amount of fat (mean 2.1%) although fat varied (P<0.05) with the agave brand. The protein content of sweet sorghum syrups ranged from 0.9 to 4.0%, and the mean value (1.80%) was nearly two-fold higher than for the other syrups (0.96%). Sweet sorghum syrups contained dramatically higher (P<0.05) mean amounts of magnesium (120 mg) than the other syrups (5 mg). The potassium contents of all the sweet sorghum syrups were also very high (up to 1710 mg) and dramatically higher (P<0.05) than for all the other syrups. Iron was negligible in servings of the syrups except for sweet sorghum which contained over half (52.7%) of the daily value. Overall, sweet sorghum syrups were rich dietary sources of magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, and contained negligible sodium.