History of sugar

The history of sugar mainly concerns the background in the production of sucrose, the principal component of table sugar. One can break down the history in many ways, but all history begins in Asia followed by the migration of cultivation and associated industry.

Origins of sugarcane

There are two centers of domestication for sugarcane: one for Saccharum officinarum by Papuans in New Guinea and another for Saccharum sinense by Austronesians in Taiwan and southern China. Papuans and Austronesians originally primarily used sugarcane as food for domesticated pigs. The spread of both S. officinarum and S. sinense is closely linked to the migrations of the Austronesian peoples. Saccharum barberi was only cultivated in India after the introduction of S. officinarum.

Saccharum officinarum was first domesticated in New Guinea and the islands east of the Wallace Line by Papuans, where it is the modern center of diversity. Beginning at around 4000 BC they were selectively bred from the native Saccharum robustum. From New Guinea it spread westwards to Island Southeast Asia after contact with Austronesians, where it hybridized with Saccharum spontaneum.The second domestication center is mainland southern China and Taiwan where S. sinense was a primary cultigen of the Austronesian peoples. Words for sugarcane exist in the Proto-Austronesian languages in Taiwan, reconstructed as *təbuS or **CebuS, which became *tebuh in Proto-Malayo-Polynesian. It was one of the original major crops of the Austronesian peoples from at least 3500 BC. Introduction of the sweeter S. officinarum may have gradually replaced it throughout its cultivated range in Island Southeast Asia. From Island Southeast Asia, S. officinarum was spread eastward into Polynesia and Micronesia by Austronesian voyagers as a canoe plant by around 1500 BC. It was also spread westward and northward by around 1000 BC to China and India by Austronesian traders, where it further hybridized with Saccharum sinense and Saccharum barberi. From there it spread further into western Eurasia and the Mediterranean. There is speculation among scholars people in Polynesia may have produced granulated cane sugar because of the simple process. However evidence is limited because of the lack of writing. The first credible written evidence for granulated sugar dates to ancient India, the process described the refining of cane juice into granulated crystals and was often visited by imperial convoys (such as those from China) to learn about cultivation and sugar refining. By the sixth century AD, sugar cultivation and processing had reached Persia. In the Mediterranean, sugarcane was possibly brought through the Arab medieval expansion. "Wherever they went, the medieval Arabs brought with them sugar, the product and the technology of its production."

Asia Sugarcane is native of tropical areas such as the Indian subcontinent (South Asia) and Southeast Asia and Southern China and Taiwan. Different species seem to have originated from different locations; Saccharum barberi originated in India, and S. edule and S. officinarum came from New Guinea. One of the earliest historical references to sugarcane is in a Chinese manuscripts dating to the 8th century BCE, which described sugar cane farming and production in Ancient India. In the tradition of Indian medicine (āyurveda), sugarcane is known by the name Ikṣu, and sugarcane juice is known as Phāṇita. Its varieties, synonyms and characteristics are defined in nighaṇṭus such as the Bhāvaprakāśa (1.6.23, group of sugarcanes). Sugar cane juice may have been turned into granulated cane sugar by Polynesians however evidence of this is limited because of the lack of writing and only speculated among scholars.Sugar remained relatively unimportant until around 350 AD when Indians discovered methods of turning sugarcane juice into granulated crystals that were easier to store and transport. It was then considered as 'sweet spice' and Indian traders started trading sugar outside India. In the Sanskrit Indian language, these crystals were called khanda (Devanagari: खण्ड, Khaṇḍa), which is the source of the word candy. Indian sailors, who carried clarified butter and sugar as supplies, introduced knowledge of sugar along the various trade routes they travelled. Traveling Buddhist monks took sugar crystallization methods to China. During the reign of Harsha (r. 606–647) in North India, Indian envoys in Tang China taught methods of cultivating sugarcane after Emperor Taizong of Tang (r. 626–649) made known his interest in sugar. China established its first sugarcane plantations in the seventh century. Chinese documents confirm at least two missions to India, initiated in 647 CE, to obtain technology for sugar refining. The derivation of the word "sugar" is thought to be from Sanskrit शर्करा (śarkarā), meaning "ground or candied sugar," originally "grit, gravel". Sanskrit literature from ancient India, conventionally dated by modern scholarship to roughly c. 1500–500 BCE, although these works were transmitted orally for centuries and do not survive as written documents, provides the first references of the cultivation of sugar cane and of the manufacture of sugar in the Indian subcontinent. The major industrialization of sugar production in the New World eventually rejuvenated sugar production in Asia. This rebalancing was expedited by the abolition of slavery, which had given the New World an economic advantage. In addition to India, Indonesia and Thailand became major exporters of sugar.

Middle East The cultivation and knowledge of sugar cane migrated to the Middle East. Often this migration was attributed to the influence of Nearchus, admiral of Alexander the Great. He had learned of sugar in 325 BC through his participation in the campaign of India led by Alexander (Arrian, Anabasis). Eventually this knowledge led to major production in Persia, Syria, Cyprus, Sicily, and especially Egypt. These technologies were largely destroyed by the Turks.

Europe

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