Marshall, RO; Kooi, ER (April 1957). "Enzymatic conversion of D-glucose to D-fructose". Science. 125 (3249): 648–9. Bibcode: 1957Sci...125..648M. doi: 10.1126/science.125.3249.648. PMID 13421660. Nilsson, Jeff (5 May 2017). "Could You Stomach America's Wartime Sugar Ration? 75 Years Ago". Saturday Evening Post. Archived from the original on 29 October 2018 . Retrieved 28 October 2018. Polyols are sugar alcohols and are used in chewing gums where a sweet flavor is required that lasts for a prolonged time in the mouth. [102] Beginning in the late 18th century, the production of sugar became increasingly mechanized. The steam engine first powered a sugar mill in Jamaica in 1768, and soon after, steam replaced direct firing as the source of process heat.

Monosaccharides may be further converted into structural polysaccharides such as cellulose and pectin for cell wall construction or into energy reserves in the form of storage polysaccharides such as starch or inulin. Starch, consisting of two different polymers of glucose, is a readily degradable form of chemical energy stored by cells, and can be converted to other types of energy. [65] Another polymer of glucose is cellulose, which is a linear chain composed of several hundred or thousand glucose units. It is used by plants as a structural component in their cell walls. Humans can digest cellulose only to a very limited extent, though ruminants can do so with the help of symbiotic bacteria in their gut. [66] DNA and RNA are built up of the monosaccharides deoxyribose and ribose, respectively. Deoxyribose has the formula C Sugar was rationed during World War I, though it was said that "No previous war in history has been fought so largely on sugar and so little on alcohol", [58] and more sharply during World War II. [59] [60] [61] [62] [63] Rationing led to the development and use of various artificial sweeteners. [59] [64] Chemistry [ edit ] Sucrose: a disaccharide of glucose (left) and fructose (right), important molecules in the body.The United Kingdom Beetroot Sugar Association was established in 1832 but efforts to establish sugar beet in the UK were not very successful. Sugar beets provided approximately 2/3 of world sugar production in 1899. 46% of British sugar came from Germany and Austria. Sugar prices in Britain collapsed towards the end of the 19th century. The British Sugar Beet Society was set up in 1915 and by 1930 there were 17 factories in England and one in Scotland, supported under the provisions of the British Sugar (Subsidy) Act 1925. By 1935 homegrown sugar was 27.6% of British consumption. By 1929 109,201 people were employed in the British sugar beet industry, with about 25,000 more casual labourers. [60] Mechanization [ edit ] A 19th-century lithograph by Theodore Bray showing a sugarcane plantation. On right is "white officer", the European overseer. Enslaved workers toil during the harvest. To the left is a flat-bottomed vessel for cane transportation.

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. [8] [9] Collino, M (June 2011). "High dietary fructose intake: Sweet or bitter life?". World J Diabetes. 2 (6): 77–81. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v2.i6.77. PMC 3158875. PMID 21860690.

Jaggery". Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012 . Retrieved 17 August 2012. From the Arab world, sugar was exported throughout Europe. The volume of imports increased in the later medieval centuries as indicated by the increasing references to sugar consumption in late medieval Western writings. But cane sugar remained an expensive import. Its price per pound in 14th and 15th century England was about equally as high as imported spices from tropical Asia such as mace (nutmeg), ginger, cloves, and pepper, which had to be transported across the Indian Ocean in that era. [4] Powdered sugar, also known as confectioner's sugar or icing sugar, available in varying degrees of fineness (e.g., fine powdered or 3X, very fine or 6X, and ultra-fine or 10X). The ultra-fine variety (sometimes called 10X) has grain size of about 0.060mm, that is about ten times smaller than granulated sugar. Sugarcane is native of tropical areas such as the Indian subcontinent (South Asia) and Southeast Asia. [6] [12] Different species seem to have originated from different locations with Saccharum barberi originating in India and S. edule and S. officinarum coming from New Guinea. [12] [13] One of the earliest historical references to sugarcane is in Chinese manuscripts dating to 8th century BCE, which state that the use of sugarcane originated in India. [14] Vertovik, Steven; (Robin Cohen, ed.) (1995). The Cambridge survey of world migration. Cambridge University Press. pp. 57–68. ISBN 978-0-521-44405-7.

After the Haitian Revolution established the independent state of Haiti, sugar production in that country declined and Cuba replaced Saint-Domingue as the world's largest producer. [ citation needed] That proved pivotal. “Singles formats make up about half of total gum sales, and they are responsible for 65.6% of the category drop this year,” says Nielsen senior confectionery client manager Ana Godoy. Main article: Brown sugar Brown sugar examples: Muscovado (top), dark brown (left), light brown (right). There are records of knowledge of sugar among the ancient Greeks and Romans, but only as an imported medicine, and not as a food. For example, the Greek physician Dioscorides in the 1st century (AD) wrote: "There is a kind of coalesced honey called sakcharon [i.e. sugar] found in reeds in India and Eudaimon Arabia [i.e. Yemen [28]] similar in consistency to salt and brittle enough to be broken between the teeth like salt. It is good dissolved in water for the intestines and stomach, and [can be] taken as a drink to help [relieve] a painful bladder and kidneys." [29] Pliny the Elder, a 1st-century (AD) Roman, also described sugar as medicinal: "Sugar is made in Arabia as well, but Indian sugar is better. It is a kind of honey found in cane, white as gum, and it crunches between the teeth. It comes in lumps the size of a hazelnut. Sugar is used only for medical purposes." [30]U.S. per capita food availability– Sugar and sweeteners (individual)". Economic Research Service. 2010-02-16. Archived from the original on 2010-03-06 . Retrieved 2010-03-12. In winemaking, fruit sugars are converted into alcohol by a fermentation process. If the must formed by pressing the fruit has a low sugar content, additional sugar may be added to raise the alcohol content of the wine in a process called chaptalization. In the production of sweet wines, fermentation may be halted before it has run its full course, leaving behind some residual sugar that gives the wine its sweet taste. [100]