How Is Sugar Made?

Natural Sugar

Sugar is a carbohydrate found in a number of plant species. In plants, sugar is a product of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis creates a sugar known as glucose (found in all green plants). The sucrose produced by certain plants has a sticky cohesiveness to it, and there is a long process to separate this sugar from the plant into the grains of sugar we buy.

Commercial Sucrose

The two sources of sugar primarily used in the commercial industry for consumers are sugarcane and sugar beet. Both have plenty of sucrose, and are not syrupy like some sugars from other plants. Cane is typically sweeter. Sugar beet is typically white in color, and it is the highest yielding sugar crop in the world (more than three million tons of sugar beet are processed annually). Sugarcane is also yields a high volume of sugar annually (more than two million tons per year). Tropical and subtropical lands produce thick crops of sugarcane grass. This tall grass produces stalks filled with a sugary sap that is processed as sugar for human consumption. The reed itself contains 15 percent of its own weight in sugar.

Agriculture

Sugarcane needs an average temperature of about 75 degrees F to grow. Yet, it must receive just as much rain as it does sun (80 inches of rain per year). This is why tropical or subtropical areas are ideal for producing sugar on such a large commercial scale (millions of tons annually). In tropical planes, sugarcane will mature in several months. Subtropical planes produce mature sugarcane in one or two years. Depending on the height of the sugarcane, stalks may be burned before or after cutting (Taller stalks are cut down first). In the United States, sugarcane and sugar beets are machine cut and delivered to processing plants to separate the sugar from the crop.

Manufacturing

Sugarcane or beets are separated from dirt and debris (either removed by hand or by jogger machines). The crops are cleaned in a carrier with warm water. Cane or beets are cut and placed into diffusion cells. The cells contain very hot water (175 degrees F). Jet streams remove the sucrose by blasting the beets or cane with hot water. The beets or cane are moved through metal rollers and crushers. To remove impurities, lime is applied. The lime neutralizes acidic juices in the cane. The juices are then boiled away in water. To make crystallized sugar, the syrup from the beets is fried in a vacuum pan. Grains of sugar are left in the pan after evaporation of the syrup is complete. Syrup and sugar are separated by a rotating container, spinning at thousands of revolutions per minute.