# Sugar

Our primary business is the production of refined cane sugar and sugar by-products. We produce many different types of sugar comprising of pharmaceutical, beverage and commercial grades sugar as well as soft brown sugar, castor and icing sugar, sugar cubes, sachets and retail packs. Shakarganj Sugar is the leading brand of refined sugars as well as specialty sugars available in the Pakistani retail market.
Sugar obtained from sugarcane contains 99.5 percent sucrose, commonly known as cane sugar. Sucrose belongs to a group of carbohydrates called disaccharides. It is soluble in water, slightly soluble in alcohol and ether, crystallizes in long, slender needles, and is dextrorotatory. Upon hydrolysis, sucrose yields a mixture of glucose and fructose, which are levorotatory. The mixture obtained is known as invert sugar, and the process is known as inversion. Inversion is carried on in the human intestine through the aid of enzymes known as inverses and sucrose. When heated to temperatures above 180 °C (356 °F), sucrose becomes the amorphous, brown, syrupy substance called caramel.

Sugar is not only used as a constituent in industrial and homemade food, but also as raw material in fermentation to produce ethyl alcohol, butyl alcohol, glycerin and citric acid. Sugar is also an ingredient in transparent soaps and can be converted to esters which yield tough, insoluble and infusible resins..

### BAGASSE

Sugarcane bagasse is the residue leftover after the crushing and milling of sugarcane and contains 50% moisture, 2% sugar as well as fiber. Bagasse can be used as an alternative energy fuel source to produce electricity through a power co-generation process in sugar factories. It is also used as a raw material in both the paper industry as well as the building materials industry where it is used to produce particle board.

### MOLASSES

Molasses, also known as treacle, is a dark brown viscous liquid obtained as a by-product in the processing of cane sugar. It contains nearly 45% uncrystallized, fermentable sugar and some sucrose. Molasses is a valuable by-product of the sugar manufacturing process and is used in the production of ethyl alcohol, liquor, table syrup and food flavorings. It is also used as food for farm animals and in the manufacturing of several processed tobaccos.

### PRESSMUD

Press-mud, commonly known as filter cake, is used as manure by farmers. Press-mud is a combustible material and is therefore also commonly used in kilns for brick making. When Press-mud is mixed with the waste material generated by distilleries during the ethanol production process, the resultant product is enriched organic manure that can significantly improve farm yields when used as a fertilizer. This mixing process also reduces the need to treat the distillery effluent, which is very toxic and high in Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) contents.