Recent research has demonstrated the relationship between the aging process, the damaging effects of free radicals on tissue cells and the beneficial impact on blood plasma antioxidant capacity of the increased daily intake of antioxidant-rich foods. Two Japanese studies, published in the 2001 and 2002 Sugar Industry Technologists (SIT) Technical Proceedings, have presented the physiological effects of sugarcane extracts, viz. promotion of resistance against viral and bacterial infections, stimulation of the immune response, protection against liver injuries and promotion of growth in chickens.
The Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) method to quantify the antioxidant property, as promulgated by USDA scientists, has been used to rank common foods (ORAC units/100 g). Prunes (5,770) and blueberries (2,400) top the list, trailed by such health food industry favourites as kale (1,770) and spinach (1,260). ORAC values of various sugarcane products, as reported by Dr. Saska (Saska and Chou, 2002) of Louisiana State University, range from some 5000 (ORAC units/100g dried solid) to over 35,000, and antioxidants in concentrated sugarcane extracts obtained from cane juice were found to contain over one million ORAC units (µmole TE/100 g dry solids).
Laboratory tests were undertaken at the Audubon Sugar Institute of Louisiana State University, USA and the South China University of Technology of China to establish the basic elements of a realistic recovery/extraction process and to confirm the antioxidant properties of the products.
Under the direction of Dr. Chou, the President and Principal Engineer of Dr. Chou Technologies, Inc. (eSugarTech), pilot plant sugarcane extraction tests were conducted at the Taiwan Sugar Corporation in Taiwan and the Parry Sugar Company in India.
The design parameters derived from the pilot tests were scaled up for commercial production in a 4000 ton per day sugarcane factory. The sugarcane extract with mega antioxidant activities from the commercial production has a trademark of "MEGANOX™". A patent was also granted in China, the largest potential market for antioxidants in the future.
