Minerais em melados e em caldos de cana
Sugar cane is an easily adaptable crop to diverse climate conditions, and it is used in the manufacturing of many different products. Among those products is the syrup, which is popularly known to be good sources of iron. In this work, we aimed to measure the concentration of some minerals in commercial sugar cane syrup brands and syrup prepared in the laboratory using stainless steel equipment. A total of 20 samples were analyzed, 10 of commercial brands and ten prepared in the laboratory. The samples were prepared by wet-air oxidation of organic matter and the contents of Ca, Mg, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Fe were determined by atomic absorption. Na and K were determined by photometry and P by colorimetry. It was found that the mean concentration of Fe, P, Na, and Mn were higher in the commercial products than in that prepared in the laboratory using stainless steel equipment. On the other hand, it was found that the calcium content was higher in the laboratory made syrup, which is in agreement with the Ca content found for the sugarcane juice. There was no significant difference in the concentration of the other tested minerals.