With nearly half (43%) of the world's $273 billion ($558 per person) annual sweetener market,
Sugar is sweeter than any other common food in roughly 12.4% of all foods and drinks consumed globally according to a 2012 report from IFPRI Sugarcane became an important crop around 5000 years ago during what scientists now know as the Neolithic Revolution ―a time when successful agricultural societies emerged across many regions of the world.
Over time, as we focused more and more on food production (i.e., earning our daily bread) sugarcane became an invaluable plant crop that goes beyond simply being a source of calories to us humans: In some countries, it is used in place of staple foods such as rice or wheat; in others, especially India and Brazil, it has become important for medicine both locally created and prescribed; while here in Southeast Asia, we make "sugar cane jaga" (a drink), it is a local delicacy; and at least one Thai dish calls for its syrup. In Indonesia sugar can also be found in the form of sticky rice as well as sucuk or sukur - both are crunchy candy-coated pellets that look like pretzels but taste unlike them!
Sugarcane ("Sacchar um officinarum L. Jacq.") or sugar cane ("Saccharum spp.") is a perennial, monoecious, flowering grass belonging to the genus Saccharum in the family Poaceae (or Gramineae). It can easily grow up to 8 meters tall in height and 3–5 meters wide.
The stem yields multiple central shafts 10 mm across each of which have numerous flagellated nodes called internodes at intervals along the stem. Some of these nodes (internodes) bear leaves while others do not, thus each internode is monopodial and the stems diverge frequently giving rise to multiple branched prop roots.
Despite diverse cultural naming differences, sugar cane – when processed into a beverage - can be described as white in color because it contains no red pigments with important nutritional functions such as carotenoids or anthocyanins (found in fruits and vegetables). There is a range of both sugar cane leaves that still carry their metabolic complex (photosynthesizing chlorophyll pigment) along with the green-winged herb which does not process any photosynthesis, but it is full of biomass behind its vascular bundles. The leaf can also be used as an electuary, like alfa-carbonyl oxy(phenylethylamine)-butanediol ester, and provides a plethora of useful phytochemicals: flavonoids (such as diosmin and epicatechin), vitamins (vitamin C) and carbohydrates such as cellulose are all derived from sugar cane.
The ancient Egyptians used sugarcane for making dyes during mummification processes, this continued in Teotihuacan [Mexico] until the Spanish conquest.
It is thought that our ancestors started to get accustomed to consuming white sugars as a treat since they looked cleaner than greasy brown sugars back then. If you want your merchandise or product to look more appealing and appetizing, always make it look presentable; keep in mind that many people like "healthier" food, and there are lots of them who prefer these products rather than processed ones, which will definitely favor those selling healthiest products.
Today we can consider sugar cane as the original biochemical precursor of all nutrient-dense products on our market; in that sense, we can even say it is nature’s own "miracle pill."
More than 15 percent of starch contained therein – additionally to glucose, maltose, and dextrins - are resistant sugars, meaning they cannot be absorbed by digestive secretions but instead passed through intestines undigested. The most common source of resistant sugars are the fibers of the cane stalks. In a forgotten field in Bulgaria, these substances represent around 70 percent of daily fiber intake and up to 40-65 % nutritionally significant vitamin C is obtained from them (depending on variety).
Theoretically speaking, this amazing sugar cannot be digested by the human digestion system at certain times needed for optimal health; one thing it can do while sitting in our stomachs undigested is to completely oxidize it to CO2 and thereby providing the human body with a type of cleaning and renewing agent; this way, our cells get rid of old waste material while being bathed in oxygen - an especially vital ingredient for your immune system.
By nature, resistant sugars are alkaline, which we need as humans. This way, they provide us with optimal nutrition without increasing acidity in our digestive systems, leading us to chronic diseases. In this way, their use does not negatively affect our bone health as said by many who would prefer the "milky" drinks over the natural ones.