Jaggery (Gur)
Manufacturing of Jaggery is from sugar cane followed by clarification and concentration process. It is Uncentrifuged sugar (i.e Without separation of molasses) with minimum sucrose 70 to 80% by mass. It is also called as Gur.
Sugarcane industry is quite well developed in India and plays an important role in Indian economy. Today there are numerous automated jaggery plants but still manual manufacturing is also carried out widely. It is a simple process and doesn’t requires any heavy machinery. It is a good source of rural employment in sugarcane producing regions like U.P, Maharashtra, Gujarat, etc.
Main steps in jaggery making process
The process consists of 3 steps: Extraction of Juice, Clarification of juice, Concentration of juice
Extraction of Juice
Generally three roller mills used for juice extraction. It is driven by electrical motor or diesel engine. This extraction of juice is in the range of 60 to 70%. After extraction of juice, suspended matters are removed by cotton cloth or finr mesh screen.
Clarification of juice
– The filtered juice is then put into large thick and shallow iron boiling pans kept over furnace.
– The sugarcane juice is boiled while being stirred continuosly so as to avoid it sticking to the pans.
– While boiling, impurities which come to the surface of juice are removed continuosly.
– Added vegetable origin simultaneously small quantity of lime water is added to reduce the acidity of sugarcane juice.
– The juice is transferred from one pan to another while boiling. In this process the impurities which settle down are also removed.
– Boiling continues for few hours till the juice thickens into a golden brown paste..
– The paste is then transferred to a large flat pan to cool down. Here also it is continuosly moved to avoid sticking and to get a desired consistency.
Concentration of juice
– It is then moulded into different shapes and packed for selling in the market.
Jaggery making is a simple but laborious process. This kind of manual unit doesn’t requires huge investments and can be set-up relatively easily.
Storage of jaggery
Jaggery is consumed throughout the year in daily regular practice. The jaggery detoriates faster in monsoon season when relative humidity is more than 70%. During this season gur absorbs moisture from the atmosphere and becomes viscous and dark colour. Hence jaggery blocks packed in gunny bags along with water proof sheet.
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