Thoughts on coconut palm sugar?

[amcal]

Does anyone use coconut palm sugar? It's supposed to have a low glycemic index.

Presently, I use molasses for coffee and erythritol for other things but, I'd love to find a natural alternative for baking.

I did use coconut palm sugar in some cookies and it worked great but, I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts or information about it?

I'm worried it will turn out like agave syrup - everyone thought it was fantastic for a while then we found out it's no better than high fructose corn syrup

[kjbrown92]

I don't know if it's "good" for you, but it seems more natural than some of the other choices. We use it a lot.

[bluebell]

its just come over here to the uk and i just bought some although its pretty expensive! i've not used it yet because i'm not sure what to use it for and don't want to waste it on a mistake!! so if you have any suggestions or recipes for baking with it let me know! i agree with you i hope that it dosn't turn out to be like agave - we never use that stuff now as dd reacts so bad to it even the 'raw' organic ones that are supposed to be all pure and natural, she has behavioural problems 10 times worse than with refined sugar!! anyway i'd be interested to hear what others think about this sugar and i'm so hoping its not highly refiined.

[Metasequoia]

I just bought a bunch a few weeks ago. It's super cheap in Asian markets - you just have to make sure it's *just* palm sugar because some companies add white sugar and/or sulfur dioxide.

I'm super sensitive to sugar, so one day when I'm feeling 'normal', I'm going to eat a spoonful & see how I feel.

[3boobykins]

I'm planning to try this. I've read that it only contains 3%-9 fructose, and it's glycemic index is lower than agave, honey, or sugar. We stopped using agave when I found out about the high fructose content, and have been using honey, 'tho we don't use much.

Here's a great review of coco palm sugar--seems like a neat blog, also:

http://just-making-noise.blogspot.co...onut-palm.html

[EMS]

Interesting. I will have to check this out. I have yet to find a better option for sweeteners here in Northeast Brazil than raw sugar.
Also impossible to find coconut oil (ironic, since there are coconuts everywhere!).

[amcal]

Ack! I don't know what I'm trying to find.

I went to my super huge Asian supermarket today and they had tons of "Palm Sugar" but, I couldn't find any that said the source of the palm sugar. My understanding is that often "palm sugar" is acutally coconut sugar and it will say the source of the sugar on the package.

None of the "palm sugars" I found listed a source but, they looked exactly like what was posted in the blog linked above. They were in jars and solid.

But, I did find "coconut sugar" in a can and it simply says "coconut sugar" - no coconut palm sugar.

Can anyone help?

[Metasequoia]

This is from the blog that 3boobykins linked to:

I received a message from Coco Palm Sugar explaining the different sugars more clearly, here's what he said: "One of the thing you need to be aware of is the prevalence of "palm sugars" disguised as sugar coming from coconuts. There are a number of palm trees from which palm sugar is made from and only those from coco nuciferas has been studied and proven to have low GI properties." So, when you buy your coconut palm sugar... make sure to read where the sugar is coming from coconut palm flowers.

She links to this site which talks about palm sugar actually being cane sugar disguised as palm sugar & the difference between coconut palm sugar & other palm sugars.

There's a blog post in that link above that says this:

THE Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) warned consumers on Monday against buying coco-sugar from non-PCA registered producers, saying some unscrupulous businessmen are selling as “pure coco-sugar” products made solely from sugar cane.

This coconut palm sugar is certified by the PCA.

[amcal]

Thank you

I did actually read all that but, in the blog she talks about getting hers at the asian market. In fact, the picture she puts on her blog actually says "pure palm sugar" on the jar but, she says it's "coconut palm sugar" which is low GI. She says that althought the names "palm sugar" and "coconut palm sugar" are used interchangably, they're not the same and you need to make sure it comes from coco nuciferas.

I was just wondering how to tell which one, if any, of the 10 different brands of "palm sugar" I found in the asian market came from coco nuciferas since none of them listed a source.

[Metasequoia]

Originally Posted by amcal

I was just wondering how to tell which one, if any, of the 10 different brands of "palm sugar" I found in the asian market came from coco nuciferas since none of them listed a source.

If they're not certified by the PCA, I don't think you can.

[amcal]

I went back to the Asian market and found someone super helpful.

Even though all the brands of sugar said "Palm Sugar" they had different words in different languages undernealth them. I was told that "Duong Thot Not" translates to "Coconut Palm Sugar". Even though it says 100% Palm Sugar, he said it's actually coconut palm sugar.

There were other brands that were simply "palm sugar" but he said if it says "duong thot not" it is from the coconut plant.

Edited to add that I emailed the company to see if this product is from coco nuciferas. Will let you know what I hear.

[3boobykins]

Wow, confusing! But now we know what to look for. Thanks, Amcal!

[amcal]

Just to mention, my Whole Foods carries the Sweet Tree brand of Coconut Palm Sugar.

Whole Foods isn't near me and it's super expensive there - like $5.99/lb - so I was hoping to find an alternative at the Asian market.

At the asian market - it's in solid blocks or a thick, dense syrup. At whole foods, it's granulated like brown sugar.

[amcal]

Originally Posted by Metasequoia

This coconut palm sugar is certified by the PCA.

Ok, color me confused.

So, until I am 100% positive that what I'm getting from the Asian Market is coconut palm from the coco nuciferus - I decided to go to whole foods and buy the Sweet Tree brand in the link above (it was $3.99/lb - not $5.99 like I originally said).

The only problem? It too says 100% Palm Sugar. No where does it say it's from coco nuciferus.

It says it has a low GI of 35 and all the other stuff but, I'm just so confused.

[Metasequoia]

Originally Posted by amcal

I went back to the Asian market and found someone super helpful.

Even though all the brands of sugar said "Palm Sugar" they had different words in different languages undernealth them. I was told that "Duong Thot Not" translates to "Coconut Palm Sugar". Even though it says 100% Palm Sugar, he said it's actually coconut palm sugar.

There were other brands that were simply "palm sugar" but he said if it says "duong thot not" it is from the coconut plant.

Edited to add that I emailed the company to see if this product is from coco nuciferas. Will let you know what I hear.

But apparently the problem is with the manufacturers. If the manufacturer doesn't have his product certified by the PCA, it could be spliced with brown sugar or HFCS. I don't know if there are similar certifications for coconut palm sugars produced outside of the Philippines.

Originally Posted by amcal

Just to mention, my Whole Foods carries the Sweet Tree brand of Coconut Palm Sugar.

Whole Foods isn't near me and it's super expensive there - like $5.99/lb - so I was hoping to find an alternative at the Asian market.

At the asian market - it's in solid blocks or a thick, dense syrup. At whole foods, it's granulated like brown sugar.

Is this Sweet Tree brand different from the Big Tree brand I linked to above?

[amcal]

Ahhh, ok now I see what you're saying. Even though is says 100% palm, the problem is that the ingredients might be incorrect? Ok, I think I get it. I thought that even though is says Palm Sugar, if you looked at the ingredients, you would see it actually contains other things - but, you're saying they're adding things to the sugar but not listing them on the label?

As far as the Sweet Tree Brand, it looks like Big Tree is the manufacturer and it's sold under the brand name Sweet Tree.

If you click on the link you provided, on the left hand side there is a link for Sweet Tree.

[Metasequoia]

Originally Posted by amcal

Ahhh, ok now I see what you're saying. Even though is says 100% palm, the problem is that the ingredients might be incorrect? Ok, I think I get it. I thought that even though is says Palm Sugar, if you looked at the ingredients, you would see it actually contains other things - but, you're saying they're adding things to the sugar but not listing them on the label?

Yes, exactly. The blog that was linked to had another link that explained this issue.

Originally Posted by amcal

As far as the Sweet Tree Brand, it looks like Big Tree is the manufacturer and it's sold under the brand name Sweet Tree.

If you click on the link you provided, on the left hand side there is a link for Sweet Tree.

Ah, good, I looked but couldn't find it on there.

[elleystar]

Well, phooey. My health food store got in this brand
http://www.amazon.com/Coconut-Palm-S...2795500&sr=8-6
but I won't buy it anymore until I can be sure there's no garbage in it.

As to what its uses are: I can attest that it is wonderful in ice cream, and doesn't give it a weird flavor at all. I have made both strawberry sour cream AND lemon with it. I used half the amount of sweetener called for and the sweetness was just right, and a great flavor.

[bosomrocker]

SweetTree Coconut Palm Sugar is the best

I got turned onto SweetTree palm sugar last year from a couple friends and i love it.. more importantly, my kids love it. I did use agave until i learned that it is basically a high fructose syrup. So, i've been using SweetTree ever since and I give it two thumbs up.

i was a skeptic at first, did some research and agree with some of the comments made by others. Some other coconut palm sugars are blended with cane sugar and some others are also blobs, instead of granules. I prefer the granules, as it's just easier to use. I've tried a few different brands and SweetTree is definitely the best. Just google sweet tree palm sugar and you'll find it. I live near a Whole Foods, so i buy it there all the time. Amazon sells it too, i think.

For anyone who is interested in getting this, i recommend just going into your local health food store and telling the grocery manager to buy it. Stores tend to be open to customers suggestions, especially for a product like this... it's low glycemic, organic and from what i have found so far, the "healthiest" sweetener... and it's not that expensive.

[cocopalmsugar]

some clarifications.

Hello everyone. I couldn't help myself from replying so I had to register just so I could clarify some things.

re: duong thot not /đường thốt nốt

As I explained here, it is Vietnamese for "palm sugar" and not necessarily coconut palm sugar. If your Asia palm sugar is from Thailand, look for " nam tan ma prao" / น้ำตาลมะพร้าว (Coco palm sugar). If it says "nam tan pep" /น้ำตาลปี๊บ it came from the sugar palm/arengga tree.

There are many types of palm trees with edible flower sap from which the sugar can be made. This is akin to sap from various maple trees, and as you may know, there are a number of them but only sap from sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and the black maple (Acer nigrum), are popular because of their high sugar content.

In the case of palm tree family, the most popular source for sap is the Palmyra palm (Borassus), also known as sugar palm because it can produce as much as twice the same amount of sap as Coconuts (Cocos nuciferas).

This is the general case in many Southeast Asian countries producing palm sugar but the Philippines is a late player in the "palm sugar" industry, the only palm sugar we produce in any commercial quantity are made from coconuts because we have very few sugar palm trees compared to our neighbors. (There's also the exotic pakaskas sugar made from the Nypa palm tree, but that is very rare and expensive. Not likely to be exported outside the country.)

So when you get your palm sugar and it only says "palm sugar" without any other qualifications, it's most likely to have been from a sugar palm tree (Borassus) or Arengga palm tree. Why? Because this make more sense economically for producers since they get more sap out of the tree, and hence more sugar. And the sad truth about some unscrupulous businessmen is if they can ride on the popularity of the "coco palm sugar" for their "palm sugars" and make a few extra bucks, then they will.

re PCA registration of Big Tree Farms or Sweet Tree brand
Metasequoia quoted that "Big Tree Farms" or "Sweet Tree" brand is certified by the Philippine Coconut Authority but that is not true. I've asked my contacts from PCA about this and there are no foreign companies that's registered with them.

Besides, Big Tree Farms operate from Indonesia and is outside the authority of the Philippine Coconut Authority agency.

I hope this helps clarify things up.

PS
I'm the webmaster of the site:cocopalmsugar.sch.ph which was quoted from above.

Thanks.