Sugar, a gift of nature - Solabia Group

Ethnobotanical journal edited by the Solabia Group – No.43 – January 2004
For a sweet-toothed 2004
Making your New
Year Resolutions,
embodied by these
sugar crystals on
sticks, symbolising
both purity and authenticity – isn’t
that the way to get the year off to a
flying start?
But why was sugar chosen to
convey this message?
For many reasons in fact, about
which I now have the pleasure to
enlighten you, without further
ado…
Firstly, the Petits Botanistes that we
are cannot fail to realise that sugar
is, first and foremost, a gift from
Nature…Sugar cane, maple, beet
and honey are part of our natural
heritage and will be remembered
for all time as plants or products
essential to man.
Secondly, sugar promotes well
being. Sugar is the first taste a baby
identifies. It is synonymous with
pleasure, a pleasant sensation and is
nowadays epitomised in many
guises in our consumer society,
suddenly immersing us in the past
to rekindle fond memories of
barley sugar, caramel, candy sugar,
candy floss, aniseed lozenges and
boiled sweets, etc.
The era of gourmandise is still there
for a good time to come…and gives
us non-stop access to well being!
What’s more, apart from this
indisputable hedonistic value and,
even if it means encountering the
sensitivity of some people and
meeting others who are still
convinced that sugar is harmful to
the body, let’s not be afraid, on the
contrary, to say that, provided that
it is used properly, sugar is vital for
the body, ensuring amongst other
things that the brain functions
correctly.
Life is all about striking a balance
and avoiding excess. So, let’s not
wrongly condemn sugar as being
solely responsible for our excess
pounds. Instead, let’s get the New
Year of to a flying start with a better
lifestyle in which sugar still has a
part to play …
- Jan./Feb. 2004 -
Editorial
Condemned in the past by beauty
idealists, sugar is nowadays on the
brink of winning an unprecedented
victory! Sugar is being revamped,
given a certain value, known to all,
at the frontier of delicious culinary
delights, awakening the senses and
boosting health at the same time.
Listen to what is being said today in
informed circles about sweeteners.
These are false sugars, the taste of
which is far from being met with
unanimous approval! Won’t you
prefer products with a low sugar
content from now on, despite the
fact that they contain sugar all the
same? It’s excess sugar and added
sugar that we have to look out for
and overcome in future.
There is still much work to be done
before we can convince the most
reticent of people of the fact that
simple or complex sugars contain
numerous properties to promote
beauty and health...
So, without further ado, plunge into
this sugary world brought to you
today by le Petit Botaniste ® and
discover or rediscover the origins of
sugar.

Le Petit Botaniste ® Sugar – a gift of nature
O
nce upon a time there was the
sugar epic – an adventure
brimming with an
overwhelming desire to get to grips
with the history of Mankind
through that of plants …
The Sugar Epic…
Almost three thousand years ago, or
thereabouts, the Chinese or the
Indians (no-one really knows
which), invented the very first
techniques for extracting “sarkara”
or sugar in Sanskrit from a tall
tropical plant (sugar cane).
Around 510 B.C. it was the turn of
the Persians to discover sugar but it
was only in 310 B.C. that the
extremely famous Alexander the
Great came across this famous “reed
that produced honey without
involving the bees”! He took it back
with him to the West.
And so the great history of sugar
began! Both the Romans and the
Greeks discovered its beneficial
properties and used it for
therapeutic purposes.
In the VI th century, sugar cane
consolidated its presence in Iran
and the first sugar loaves were
produced, thus making it easier to
transport the sugar. The fame of
sugar cane thus spread through a
series of adventures, including Arab
adventures, these famous
conquerors who defied people all
over the world. The Crusaders also
introduced the sweet properties of
this herb to their respective
countries.
In Palestine, Egypt, Syria as well as
Spain, Greece, Italy, Cypress and
Malta, sugar cane developed on all
continents.
Alexander the Great
(356-323 BC.)
Olivier de Serres
(1539-1619)
In the XIV th century, Venice
acquired the sugar trade monopoly
and the first refineries were
constructed in 1450. Gradually, the
history of sugar will leave Europe to
conquer more far-off climes …
In search of the
Sugar isles…
In 1492, Christopher Columbus
discovered America.
One year later, the Genoese
navigator set sail for the West Indies
and Cuba. In St Domingo, he sowed
the first sugar cane plants. It was
then the turn of the Caribbean
Islands to don the title of “the sugar
isles”. Meanwhile, the Portuguese
had taken both the method and the
equipment to Brazil.
During the XVIII th century, St
Domingo, Martinique and
Guadeloupe shared the cultivation
of the cane whilst refineries
multiplied in towns and cities.
Sugar which, by now had become a
luxury product, was henceforth the
first, major international economic
and political stake, and the world
witnessed the dreadful trafficking of
slaves and the unleashing of war,
the sole aim of which was to
conquer the sugar trade. This was
fundamentally the reason behind
the second 100 years war between
the French and the English.
MAJOR FIGURES IN THE SUGAR EPIC
Andreas Sigismund
Marggraf (1709-1782)
- Jan./Feb. 2004 -
Franz Carl Achard
(1753-1821)
A new approach
Beet …
The history of mankind will, once
again, disrupt that of sugar.
In fact, the revolution of 1789 and
the French-English conflicts
followed, causing prices to shoot
up. Sugar was thus rationed.
A new era was dawning – that of
beet. As far back as 1600, the
famous agronomist, Olivier de
Serres, had commented that, when
cooking, beet produces a juice
similar to sugar syrup. In 1745, a
German, Andreas Sigismund
Marggraf, focused on other plants
with a sugary taste, and succeeded
in extracting sugar from beet, albeit
with a very low yield. His pupil,
Franz Carl Achard, actually went on
to produce the first beet sugar in
1798. The first production plant was
therefore built in Silesia (Poland)
with the assistance of Frédéric
Guillaume III but was not that
successful. For his part, Napoleon
1st continued his research with a
passion, hence in 1811, Benjamin
Delessert developed in Passy the
sugar refining, purifying and
packaging process.
The production of beet witnessed a
major growth spurt with the
continental European blockade in
1806, which stopped the
importation of sugar. The abolition
of slavery lent credibility to beet.
Since the XIXth century, sugar cane
and beet have therefore shared the
sugar monopoly.
Benjamin Delessert
(1773-1847)

N
Le Petit Botaniste ® Sugar – a gift of nature
ow let’s get back in more detail
to these incredible species of
plant that give us sugar, also known
as saccharose.
Beet and Sugar Cane
Belonging to the Graminae family,
sugar cane
(Saccharum
officinarum), is a
tall, hardy,
rhizomatous plant.
From these rhizomes
extend cylindrical,
aerial stems between 2
and 5 m tall, the weight of which
varies from 0.3 to 6 kg in the case of
the tallest. The leaves, which are
rich in saccharose, are used by the
sugar-refining industry.
Belonging to the
Chenopodiaceae
family, sugar beet is
a plant of Northern
origin that requires a
temperate climate and
rich, deep soil in which to
grow. The saccharose is
accumulated in the root
during the first year of the
plant’s life. What’s more, the sugar
must be harvested rapidly because
it may use up all of its reserves to
produce its seeds.
Unfamiliar
saccharified plants
In tropical
regions,
various
species of
palm tree are
used – these
are known as
sugar palms:
The palmyra
palm
(Borassus
flabellifer),
ronier palm (Borassus aethiopum),
the sugar palm per se (Arenga
pinnata) or even the Chilean coquito
palm (Jubaea chilensis).
In Canada and the United States,
apart from being a commercial
essence used for its wood, silver
maple (Acer saccharum) also
produces, thanks to its sap, the
famous silver maple syrup, which is
a delicious complement to pancakes
and other culinary delights …
As for sugar sorghum (Sorghum
saccharum), which is grown chiefly
in Asia and Africa as well as in the
United States, it is the stem that
contains a wealth of saccharose.
Plants containing
fructose
Increasingly used in dietetic
products since it is considered to be
a slow sugar with substantial
sweetening properties, fructose is
fruit sugar (hence its name). For
instance, it is
found in high
concentrations
in strawberries
(Fragaria chiloensis)
or guava (Psidium guajava).
Another plant originating from
South America also comes to the
fore. This is Polymnia sonchifolia, the
oligofructane composition of its
tubercles being of primary interest
in the food supplement industry.
Sugar – a medicinal
product?
Despite its appearances and
delicious taste, up until the XVII th
century sugar was not only
considered to be a luxury product,
but also a genuine medicinal
product to which numerous
medicinal properties were
attributed!
But sugar is also the honey of our
friends, the bees, who transform
the saccharose from plant nectar
into glucose and fructose. Honey
is also made up of a multitude of
traces of other sugars, the
quantitative and qualitative
distribution of which can vary
depending on the flower
- Janv./Fév. 2004 -
Dioscorides, the famous Greek
physician, once said “that it is
similar to salt in terms of
consistency and cracks beneath the
teeth,” and recommended sugared
water for the kidneys, stomach and
bladder.
It was this medicinal usage of sugar
that led to the official name of sugar
cane: Saccharum offinarum.
Continuing in this
vein, Arab
physicians and
Avicenne in
particular,
unwittingly
developed
confectionary
between the X th
and XII th centuries
by mixing the sugar contained in
syrup with spicy powders and
aromats (mint, musk and cloves,
etc.) for therapeutic purposes.
Then it’s off to the West, to crave
this delicious, medicinal sugar,
based on the treaties of Arab
medicine. In Italy, for example, the
School of Salerno, one of the most
famous at the time, devised typical
“Diets” with health and cooking
tips for the aristocracy – how the
meaning of words can change over
time ….
In the XII th century, the Italian
physician, Mésué, created
therapeutic recipes such as laxative
(apple, pear and quince) and
stomachic (peach and prune) jams
together with aniseed sweets to aid
digestion, etc.
from which the pollen is collected
(isomaltose, nigerose, turanose,
maltulose, isomaltulose, leucrose,
kojibiose, neotrehalose,
gentiobiose,
laminaribiose and
melezitose, etc.).

As for Joseph Du Chesne, known as
“Mr. Violet”, he did not hesitate to
talk about “food medicines” and
“medicinal foods” from 1630
onwards; these preparations were
undoubtedly the precursors of what
are referred to today in informed
circles as food and drug
combinations.
He proposed warming syrups
(artemisia, peppermint and
horehound (marrubian)), refreshing
syrups (barberry (berberis vulgaris),
water lily and violet), or so-called
temperate syrups (liquorice and hop).
DO YOU KNOW ALL ABOUT
SUGAR? IT HAS
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Refined or white
It contains at least 99.7% of sucrose.
Brown sugar
(“Roux sugar”)
Contains 85 to 98% of
sucrose and certain
impurities, which gives it its brown
colour.
Crystallised
White sugar collected in turbines
after concentration under vacuum
and crystallisation of syrups.
As powder (or semolina)
Obtained by sieving or grinding
white, crystallised sugar.
Icing sugar
White powder obtained by grinding
white, crystallised sugar and adding
starch (approx. 3%) to prevent it
from forming lumps.
Candy
White or brown crystals
obtained by slow
crystallisation of a
concentrated, hot, sugar syrup.
Le Petit Botaniste ® Sug ar – a g i f t of nature
Sugar has always been
an inspiration to
health, to such an
extent that, during the
1750s, it was given a
medical definition in
the Encyclopaedia of
that time:
“Everyone knows that
sugar is a solid, white, sweet
substance that has a pleasant taste
and is widely used in dispensaries,
in cooking and even in pharmacies
to produce syrups and prepare
several remedies, dissolving
perfectly in water to which it
Demerara
Raw crystallised sugar, directly
extracted from the juice of sugar cane,
which gives it its brown colour and its
flavour reminiscent of rum.
“Vergeoise” sugar
Sugar with a soft
consistency obtained from
beet or cane syrup, which
has been coloured and
flavoured by the ingredients contained
in its starting material
Golden sugar
Produced from a syrup discarded during
the first sugar-spinning process.
Light brown
Obtained by re-heating the syrup
from the 2 nd sugar-spinning process;
this is the sugar used for specialist
Flemish dishes.
For jams
White sugar containing
natural fruit pectin, citric
acid and, occasionally,
tartaric acid for the jams to set.
Sugar loaf
Crystallised sugar moulded and cooled
in conical moulds. This is how sugar
was first used.
Liquid (or sugar syrup)
For punches and exotic recipes.
Edited by CEP, Solabia Group,
29, rue Delizy, 93698 Pantin cedex
Tel.: (+33) 1 48 10 19 40 - Fax: (+33) 1 48 91 18 77
Publication Manager: Jean François Molina
Editorial Committee: Patricia Houy and Carine Lebeau
Photo credits NC
- Reproduction prohibited-
lends a pleasant taste without
giving it any colour or odour “.
Several centuries after this
memorable craze, sugars are once
again the topic of conversation in
the highest of scientific circles!
Genuine laboratory markers, they
tend to make an effective
contribution to the treatment of
certain diseases and, very soon, will
also play a key role in cosmetics.
However, we’ll come back to that at
a later stage – rest assured!
And let’s keep the best until
last…
The saga of sugar moulded in
pieces or the history of a
technological feat…
Up until 1854, sugar was available only
in the form of sugar loaves as sold in
grocers’ shops. Breaking up the sugar
with a cleaver and a special hammer is
a monotonous routine task that
produces pieces of sugar that are
unequal in size and not always very
clean. It was therefore in 1854 that a
Parisian grocer, Eugène François,
investigated how to obtain regularsized
pieces of sugar. The equipment
he used to cut the sugar loaves into
slices and then the slices into pieces
was initially rather basic but adequate
enough to make perfect geometrically
shaped pieces of sugar available to
delighted householders. He perfected
his method of cutting and crushing
over a period of twenty years and, in
November 1875, he filed the
"casseuse François" patent.
Another breakthrough came in 1949
with compression moulding. Louis
Chambon developed the "Chambon
chain", which allowed heat-moistened
crystals of sugar to be pulled
together.