Sugar

Sugar is arguably one of those substances that we simply cannot do without. A constant part of our everyday eating life, sugar is truly a wondrous food, as you will see from this article!

 Sugar is a classification of edible crystalline substances that contain varying amounts of sucrose, lactose, and fructose. In its most recognizable form as common table sugar or sucrose, this substance is made primarily from sugar beets or sugar cane. Sugar also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple (in maple syrup form­), and many other foods. Most commonly available candies today also rely on sugar as its main ingredient.

 Sugar is by far one of the most popular choices for altering the flavor and properties of beverages and food, particularly its mouthfeel, preservation, and texture. While most commercially produced table sugar comes from either sugar cane or sugar beet, other types of sugars such as palm sugar and fructose are generally used in the manufacturing and preparation of certain food products. These other sugars are often derived from corn or fruit.

 Sugar is often dissolved in water in order to form syrup. There are many foods available on the market today that mainly contain dissolved sugar. These are typically known simply as "syrups", although they sometimes have more specific names such as "honey" or "molasses".

 Traditionally, people had to chew on the raw sugar cane in order to extract its sweetness.  It wasn’t until the Gupta dynasty in AD 350 when Indians learned how to crystallize sugar.

 The two most probable roots of sugar cultivation have been traced in 1998 by John F. Robyt to South Pacific or the North Eastern section of India, both of which reveal signs of sugarcane cultivating activities from as early as 10,000 BC and 6,000 BC respectively. The Indus valley has also shown archaeological evidence of sugar planting activities.

 Several Arab entrepreneurs later adopted the sugar production techniques from India during the Muslim Agricultural Revolution, and they later refined and transformed these methods into a larger-scale industry. It was also the Arabs that set up the very first large scale sugar mills, factories, plantations, and refineries.

 By the time the 1390s came around, a better sugar press was developed, which effectively doubled the amount of juice that was produced from the cane. This increased sugar production allowed the expansion of the operations of sugar plantations to Andalucia and to the Algarve. By the 1420s, sugar production had already extended to the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores.

 It was the Portuguese who were primarily responsible for the introduction of sugar to Brazil. In an account written by Hans Staden in 1555, it said that there were already 800 sugar mills in Santa Catarina Island by 1540 and that there were 2,000 more in the northern coast of Brazil, Demarara and Surinam.

 In a way, the early years of sugar production had a role to play in the development of the industrial revolution as well, since the construction of close to 3000 small mills around 1550 in the New World brought about an increased demand for cast iron gears, levers, axles and other metal equipment. It was also due to the expansion of sugar production in Europe that specialist trades in mold-making and iron-casting were developed in increasing numbers. The construction of several sugar mills also brought about a need for increased technological skills required for the industrial revolution of the early 17th century.

 By the time 1625 came around, the Dutch were heavily involved in the transporting of sugarcane from South America to the Caribbean islands. A little later, sugarcane began to be cultivated from Barbados to the Virgin Islands, and in 1625 to 1750, an astronomical rise in the price of sugar was noted. With the colonization of the Americas by Europe, the Caribbean then became the largest source of sugar in the world, since they could manage to supply sugarcane in large quantities due to their slave labor, which also allowed them to produce sugar at vastly lower costs than those of other cane sugar suppliers from the East.