The processes for its elaboration are the most manual and handmade. Except for the milling of the sugar cane, the rest of the processes are done by hand.
Hence, the appearance of panela is rougher than that of the other sugars that are more uniform, fine, dry and loose.
The main constituent of panela is sucrose. It has fewer calories than white sugar.
Unlike white sugar, it is not subjected to any refining, centrifugation, purification or processing, so it retains all vitamins (A, B, C, D, E) and minerals (calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper , zinc and manganese) of sugarcane.