History of Sugar Sugar has become such an important staple of many modern diets that it seems hard to believe that there was once a time when the sweet white crystals which are now consumed by the ton could not be found anywhere in the world. The first sugar is said to have been cultivated in ancient India, where archaeological evidence suggests that sugar cane was grown there around 10,000 BC. Sugar cane cultivation also occurred in the South Pacific, and there is evidence to support |
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| the theory that the natives of the Polynesian Islands may have also cultivated sugar cane as early as 6,000 BC. Where sugar cane actually originated is a hotly debated point in some circles, but the current popular theory is that it originated in Polynesia, and was taken to India in an event now lost in the mists of prehistory. | |
Though Indians and Polynesians grew sugar cane for the purposes of extracting the sweetness within (it was quite common for sugar cane to be chewed upon, not unlike a modern confection), the first large scale sugar producing operations are said to have originated in Arabia, where Indian sugar growing techniques were refined and adapted into ones which were suitable for mass production. The Indian sugar secret was discovered by the Arabs in 510 BC, when Persia invaded Indoa. The techniques which the Persians developed were transported with them to North Africa and Spain, where further sugar producing operations were set up.
It was not until the Crusades that the West learned of the existence of sugar, and it was 1099 AD before sugar came to be known in England. As trade routes between the East and the West opened up, imports of sugar became more common, though sugar was a very highly priced commodity and luxury. Some sources suggest that at one time, sugar was as valuable as gold.
Sugar plantations began to be established in many tropical climates in the 15th century, with the Canary Islands, and the Azores being sites of large plantations. It was towards the end of this time that the Portuguese discovered sugar and took it to Brazil, where it was very successful.
The first sugar cane plantations are recorded in Brazil in 1516, and the first commercial sugar operation was begun in 1550. The first Brazilian refinery was built in northern state of Pernambuco, and refineries are still being built in the Pernambuco region to this day. Sugar plantations are therefore not just a modern economic triumph for Brazil, in some ways they are also historical artifacts.
By 1540, there were around three thousand sugar mills operating in the ‘New World’, a region of the world largely comprising the Americas. These mills sparked a small boom in manufacturing in Europe because of the need for cast iron parts and other mechanical elements, and a great deal of entirely new techniques were developed in this period as mill owners sought out ways to make their mills more productive.
Columbus also took sugar cane to grow in the Caribbean in the 1600’s. It was quickly discovered that the Caribbean climate was eminently suited to growing sugar cane, and large scale growing operations were founded there in short order. By the mid 1700’s there were one hundred and twenty sugar refineries operating in Britain Between them, these refineries are estimated to have produced around 30,000 tons of refined sugar every year. However, in spite of this increased production, sugar was a luxury, and was heavily taxed by the government, making it a special spice that only the rich could afford.
This had all changed by the end of the 18th century when Britain and Europe saw the first ’sugar boom’. Production was high, prices were low, and sugar was a commodity within reach of all members of society, even the poor. This was due to the flourishing of large plantations which Europeans had set up on Carribean islands using slave labor, and the abolishing of the sugar tax, which had inflated prices for a long time. Where it was once used almost exclusively as a sweetener for hot beverages, sugar began to be used in a range of confectionery and chocolates, and was sometimes even sold to be eaten on its own, usually in cone form.
During this time, sugar production began to undergo a revolution. Steam engines found a place in the sugar industry, and the first steam engine powered mill began operations in 1768 on the island of Jamaica. The development of the steam powered mill was followed by innovation in the processes by which sugar cane juice was boiled. Edward Charles Howard, a British chemist, developed a closed vessel system in 1813 which enabled more sugar to be extracted from the raw sugar cane juice, because the closed vessel was under higher pressure, and the water therefore boiled at a lower temperature, evaporating away and leaving the sugar crystals unharmed. Prior to this a great deal of sugar was lost due to overheating and caremalization.
Norbert Rillieux, an African-American engineer further improved upon this design in around 1845 when he came up with a multi-stage closed evaporating system, where the solution moved through a series of chambers, each of which was at a lower pressure than the one before, and each of which was also heated by the steam extracted from the vessel before. This was a highly efficient and effective means of evaporating water from sugar cane juice, and multi-stage evaporators are still used in some refineries to this day.
Sugar cane was the primary source of sugar right up until towards the end of the 19th century. Sugar beet came to be a major source of sugar in Europe during the late 1800’s when the Napoleonic wars began, and Britain cut off trading routes to Europe, forcing the Europeans to find alternate sources of sugar. The sweetness of sugar beet had been noted over a hundred years earlier, but it wasn’t until the war that methods were developed to extract the sugar from the beet. England did not turn to sugar beet until the first World War, when its own sugar imports began to encounter difficulties.
Sugar has grown over centuries to be a major commodity in the world market. Today’s sugar market is a complicated place, with many nations imposing tarrifs and other trade restrictions on sugar, pushing up prices within some countries. Other countries subsidize sugar heavily, making it incredibly cheap.
Sugar cane is still the primary source of sugar, and the major producers of sugar are now Brazil and India, who are neck and neck in the sugar production stakes. Sugar beet is still grown in Europe and Russia, though it makes up but a fraction of the total world sugar production. The world leader in sugar exports is presently Brazil, though this may change if India decides to enter the sugar export market more heavily.
World sugar production is now over 45 million tons per year. There is now so much sugar produced that supply currently outstrips demand by around 23%. This has lead to a decline in sugar prices in recent months, and many nations, including the European Union are now cutting back on production in order to stop wastage.
Though sugar production outstrips sugar consumption at present time, sugar consumption grows every year as populations increase and traditional diets in many Asian nations give way to more Westernized ones. A sweet treat that has established itself firmly in the global diet, it would be no great surprise if sugar was still a major commodity in another 10,000 years time.
