When was cane sugar first used

These possessions included the sugar. The monks tasted it expectantly, but grimaced in disgust. Instead of being sweet, it had a bitter, unpleasant taste. They didn't know that the sugar had been transported across Egypt by camel.

During the journey it had absorbed the camel's sweat, which turned it bitter. Deprived of its sweetness, the sugar was now worthless. Sugar production increased in the late 15th century when explorers brought sugar cane further south. For instance, Henry the Navigator brought it from Sicily to Crete. Initially, the juice was extracted using hand-operated presses. People later began using mills drawn by animals, and eventually, the juice was pressed using water power.

During his travels, Columbus discovered that the Caribbean had the perfect climate for growing sugar cane. He had learned about the cultivation of cane in Madeira, and brought sugar cane to America and the West Indies, where it was planted and grown on big plantations.

The raw sugar was shipped back to Europe to be refined and sold. Following the rise in sugar production, sugar became more widely traded and was no longer reserved for the upper classes. In the 17th century, most European countries had colonies throughout the world where they could grow their own sugar cane. An unpleasant aspect of sugar's history is that slaves were shipped to the colonies from Africa to work on the plantations.

During the Napoleonic Wars , Napoleon blocked the ocean trade routes to prevent sugar from being imported by ship. As a result, Europeans sought a substitute for sugar cane.

They discovered that sugar could be extracted from sugar beets. However, the beets had a very low sugar content at the time, which caused sugar prices to rise. In Peru, W. Grace Company developed the first industrial-scale conversion of bagasse into paper. The Sugar Research Foundation patented colorless sterile invert sugar. The first bagasse diffuser, based on the existing technology of Egyptian diffusers, was installed in South Africa.

December 12, marked the last sugar harvest in Maui. After more than a century, Hawaii will no longer produce sugar. Sugar beet and sugar cane yields continue to improve with modern varieties of the plants and advances in agricultural technology. Vermont M. Austin, Harry.

History and Development of the Beet Sugar Industry. National Press Building, Washington D. Robert M. Lawrence Clayton, Grace: W. It is recorded that in he took sugar cane plants to grow in the Caribbean. The climate there was so advantageous for the growth of the cane that an industry was quickly established. By there were sugar refineries operating in Britain. Their combined output was only 30, tons per annum. At this stage sugar was still a luxury and vast profits were made to the extent that sugar was called "white gold".

Governments recognised the vast profits to be made from sugar and taxed it highly. This situation was to stay until when the British government, under Prime Minister Gladstone, abolished the tax and brought sugar prices within the means of the ordinary citizen.

Sugar beet was first identified as a source of sugar in No doubt the vested interests in the cane sugar plantations made sure that it stayed as no more than a curiosity, a situation that prevailed until the Napoleonic wars at the start of the 19 th century when Britain blockaded sugar imports to continental Europe. By sugar beet had replaced sugar cane as the main source of sugar on continental Europe.