Quality criteria of treacle (black honey)

Treacle, or black honey as so called in Egypt, is one of the important food items for the majority of the population. It is usually produced in small mills, mainly in the private sector, located near the sugarcane cultivation areas. The production process is carried out as a traditional food industry controlled mainly by the experience and practice of the treacle makers. Colour, taste and density define the quality of the product. There are no specific tests or quality parameters used to identify and standardize the quality specifications of treacle, except its gross chemical composition. This study was carried out to propose definite new parameters that can be used to precisely evaluate the quality of treacle. The study reveals five important parameters, out of 10 tested. Good quality treacle must have the following figures for the suggested five calculated parameters: sucrose/reducing sugars ratio (Suc./R. Sug.) 1.5–2, total sugars%/total soluble solids % (T. Sug./T.S.S.) not less than 95, sucrose%/total sugars % (Suc.IT. Sug.) 60–65, reducing sugars%/total sugars% (R. Sug./T. Sug.) 30–35 and reducing sugars/ash ratio (R. Sug./Ash) about 16.