Analysis of Nutritional Components in Brown Sugar and Its Effects on Anti-fatigue, Alleviation of Qi Deficiency and Blood Stasis, and Antioxidant Effects

Abstract Brown sugar (BS), Red granulated sugar (RGS) and White sugar(WS) are three key sweeteners and food additives in China. Notably, BS possesses significant nutritional value and has been widely used in Chinese medicine for its supportive therapeutic properties.This study evaluated the anti-fatigue, the amelioration of qi deficiency and blood stasis, as well as the antioxidant activities of these sugars using a zebrafish model. BS and RGS demonstrated significantly greater efficacy than WS in terms of both anti-fatigue effects and amelioration of qi Deficiency and blood stasis in the zebrafish model. Antioxidant assays revealed that BS, RGS, and WS (500 μg/mL) significantly enhanced superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in zebrafish embryos compared with the control group. Furthermore, the mineral composition of sugar were determined. Nine mineral elements—potassium (K), calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), phosphorus (P), and selenium (Se)—were analyzed. BS exhibited markedly higher concentrations of P, Ca, Fe, and Mg than RGS and WS, while selenium (detected at 50 mg/kg) was exclusively detected in BS. Intriguingly, RGS contained four-fold higher potassium levels than BS. Total polyphenol content, quantified by Folin-Ciocalteu assay, was 4.35 g/kg in BS and 1.53 g/kg in RGS, with no detectable polyphenols in WS.