Sugar cane, its production and use

Sugar cane is a perennial, fairly high herbaceous plant of the family of cereals. Grown in subtropical and tropical regions to produce sucrose and other by-products of sugar production.

Description of the culture

Sugar cane looks like bamboo. Its stems grow in small bundles, have a cylindrical shape and reach a height of up to seven meters with a thickness of one to eight centimeters. It is from the juice of the stems that sugar is obtained. In the nodes of each stem are the kidneys (ocelli), which later develop into small lateral shoots. They are used for propagation of sugar cane by the method of propagation. Seeds are formed in the upper part of the inflorescence (in panicles). They are mainly used for breeding new types of reeds and only in rare cases - in the form of inoculum.

Sugar cane requires fertile soil, lots of sun and water. That is why it is cultivated only in areas with a humid and hot climate. To get the maximum amount of sucrose from the stems (17 percent of the mass), the crop is harvested immediately after the growth of the plant ceases to height.

Sugar production from cane

Sugar cane is the oldest of cultivated crops and the only one that produces sugar in Africa, Oceania, Latin America and Asia. In Europe, sugar from sugar cane is obtained only in Portugal and Spain.

The production of sugar in Russia dates back to the first half of the 10th century, when the first sugar factory was built in St. Petersburg. It was obtained from imported cane raw sugar.

By tradition and today practically in all countries where sugarcane grows, it is processed and produces exactly raw sugar, and not a finished product in the form of sugar-sand. Basically, the purity of raw sugar reaches 98 percent. It is exported to Russia and other countries in the form of raw materials, from which already it receives granulated sugar.

In view of the essential difference in the chemical composition and structure of plant tissues, the technological process of sugar cane processing differs significantly from the production of sugar beet.

To obtain sugar from reeds, its stems are cut before the flowering begins. In them at that moment is up to 12 percent of fiber, up to 21 percent of sugar and up to 73 percent of water, as well as protein substances and salts.

Next, the cut stems are squeezed out and with the help of iron forks squeezed out juice from them. It contains about 0.03 percent protein, 0.1 percent starch, 0.22 percent nitrogen-containing substances, 0.29 percent salts (mainly organic acids), 18.36 percent sucrose, 81 percent water and a small percentage of aromatic components, Which give the juice a special smell. To separate the proteins to the raw juice, add freshly lime and heat it to 70 degrees. This mass is filtered, and then by evaporation it is brought to the crystallization of sugar.

Sucrose: application

Saccharose (common sugar) is monoclinic colorless crystals, which dissolve well in water. In large quantities, it is found in beets and reeds, from which it is obtained by means of technical processing.

Sucrose is used directly as a food product or as part of various confectionery products. In a large concentration it is used as a preservative. In addition, sucrose is used in the chemical industry to produce butanol, glycerol, dextran, ethanol and citric acid.

Also, sucrose is a valuable raw material in the pharmaceutical industry for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals.

In conclusion, I would like to note that sugar cane is the main raw material in the production of sucrose. It accounts for two-thirds of the world's sugar production.