Molasses is a thick syrup by product from the processing of sweeet sorghum cane or sugar beet into sugar sweet. This is one of the raw materials traditionally used for ethanol production

The word molasses comes from the Portuguese melaço, which comes in turn from the Greek mellas, or honey.The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sweet sorghum cane or beet, the amount of sugar extracted, and the method of extraction.

Molasses is the predominant feedstock used in the local beverage alcohol production industry. Unfortunately, the industry is experiencing a shortage in the supply of molasses, forcing some firms to consider substitutes such as cassava milk. The use of sweet sorghum jaggery (Sweet Sorghum molasses) can be used to address this shortage.

This is done by crushing the sweet sorghum stalk to extract the juice and then collecting, filtering and boiling it to produce jaggery. Most panutsa producers use a simple crusher consisting of three metal rollers driven by an engine. A 5HP diesel could process around 300 kgs of stalk per hour.

Usually, the crusher is connected by flexible hose to the drying vats where the juice is concentrated. The bagasse or dried cane residue can be used as fuel for this process. Syrup of 80 to 85 degrees Brix and jaggery at 90-95 degrees Brix can be produced with this process. The difference is in the boiling time as jaggery is produced after 3 ½ hours of boiling

Jaggery is the concentrated juice of sugar cane or sweet sorghum. It can also be produced by traditional methods used to produce “panutsa,” with some adjustment. Enzymes may need to be added in order to prevent gelling of the jaggery. Jaggery can be stored for a reasonable amount of time so that it can be used at the end of the milling season or when prices are high. Based on information from ICRISAT, it can be stored for 6 to 9 months. Producing alcohol from jaggery is practically the same as that from molasses. The jaggery is diluted to 40 brix and pasteurized in order to kill off stray microorganisms that can cause problems in the fermentation