Macronutrient and mineral contents in sweet sorghum syrups compared to other commercial syrup sweeteners

Abstract

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 expand their utilization as a natural and nutritional food ingredient. Proximate food attributes and critical minerals were measured in commercial high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), corn, honey, maple, sugarcane, agave, rice, and white grain (non-tannin) sorghum syrups and compared to ten commercial sweet sorghum syrups. Agave syrup was the highest (P < 0.05) source of fat (mean 2.1%) although fat varied (P < 0.05) with the agave brand. Protein content of sweet sorghum syrups ranged from 0.9 to 4.0%, with the mean (1.80%) nearly two-folds higher than the other syrups (0.96%). Sweet sorghum syrups contained markedly higher (P < 0.05) mean amounts of magnesium (120 mg) than the other syrups (5 mg). Potassium contents of all the sweet sorghum syrups were also very high (up to 1710 mg) and markedly higher (P < 0.05) than 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 recommended value (13 mg). In this limited study, sweet sorghum syrups were rich dietary sources of magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, and contained negligible sodium.

Keywords

• Sweet sorghum
• Commercial syrups
• Nutrition
• Proximate analyses
• Minerals