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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Sugar Cane
| image = Cut sugarcane.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = Sugarcane cut
| regnum = [[Plant|Plantae]]
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Monocotyledon|Liliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Poales]]
| familia = [[Poaceae]]
| genus = '''''Saccharum'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
''Saccharum arundinaceum'' 
''Saccharum bengalense'' 
''Saccharum edule'' 
''Saccharum officinarum'' 
''Saccharum procerum'' 
''Saccharum ravennae'' 
''Saccharum robustum'' 
''Saccharum sinense'' 
''[[Saccharum spontaneum]]'' 
}}
'''Sugarcane''' or '''Sugar cane''' (''Saccharum'') is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation) of tall [[perennial plant|perennial]] [[Poaceae|grasses]] (family Poaceae, tribe [[Andropogoneae]]), native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the [[Old World]]. They have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in [[sugar]] and measure 2 to 6 meters tall. All of the sugarcane species interbreed, and the major commercial [[cultivar]]s are complex [[hybrid]]s.

==Cultivation and uses==

About 200 countries grow the crop to produce 1,324 million tons (more than six times the amount of [[sugar beet]] produced). As of the year 2005, the world's largest producer of sugar cane by far is [[Brazil]].<ref name=kindling>[http://www.fao.org/es/ess/top/commodity.html?lang=en&item=156&year=2005 Link and reference involving U.N. FAO production figures]</ref> Uses of sugar cane include the production of sugar, [[Falernum]], [[molasses]], [[rum]], soda, [[cachaça]] (the national spirit of Brazil) and [[ethanol]] for fuel.
The [[bagasse]] that remains after sugarcane crushing is used to provide both heat energy, used in the mill, and electricity, which is typically on-sold to the consumer electricity grid.

== History ==
:''For a longer history, see [[Sugar]].''

[[Image:Sa brownsugar.jpg|thumb|left|100px|Sugar crystals]]

Sugarcane was originally from tropical Southeast Asia. Different species likely originated in different locations with ''S. barberi'' originating in [[India]] and ''S. edule'' and ''S. officinarum'' coming from [[New Guinea]].<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.siu.edu/~ebl/leaflets/sugar.htm |title=Sugar Cane: Past and Present|author=Peter Sharpe |publisher=Southern Illinois University Carbondale |date=[[26 October]] [[1998]]|access date=[[February 4]], [[2006]]}}</ref> The thick stalk stores energy as [[sucrose]] in the sap. From this juice, sugar is extracted by evaporating the water. Crystallized sugar was reported 2500 years ago in India. Around the eighth century A.D., Arabs introduced sugar to the Mediterranean and it was cultivated in Spain. It was among the early crops brought to the Americas by Spaniards. Brazil is currently the biggest sugar cane producing country.

Sugarcane was, and still is, extensively grown in the [[Caribbean]], where it was first brought by [[Christopher Columbus]] during his second voyage to [[The Americas]], initially to the island of [[Hispaniola]]. In colonial times, sugar was a major product of the [[triangular trade]] of New World raw materials, European manufactures, and African [[Slavery|slave]]s. [[France]] found its sugarcane islands so valuable it effectively traded Canada to Britain for their return of [[Guadeloupe]], [[Martinique]] and [[Saint Lucia|St. Lucia]] at the end of the [[Seven Years' War]]. The [[Netherlands|Dutch]] similarly kept [[Suriname]], a sugar colony in [[South America]], instead of seeking the return of the [[New Netherlands]] (New Amsterdam). [[Cuba]]n sugarcane produced sugar that received price supports from and a guaranteed market in the [[Soviet Union|USSR]]; the dissolution of that country forced the closure of most of Cuba's sugar industry. Sugarcane remains an important part of the economy of [[Belize]], [[Barbados]], [[Haiti]] along with the [[Dominican Republic]], [[Guadeloupe]], [[Jamaica]], [[Grenada]], and other islands. The sugarcane industry is a major export for the Caribbean, but it is expected to collapse with the removal of European preferences by 2009<references/>.

{| align=right
|[[Image:kew.gardens.sugar.cane.arp.jpg|thumb|right|Sugar cane ''Saccharum officinarum'' at Kew Gardens, London]]
|-
|[[Image:Saccharum officinarum.jpg|thumb|right|''Saccharum officinarum'' grown in [[Hawaii]]]]
|-
|[[Image:Sugar_cane_madeira_hg.jpg|thumb|right|Sugar cane field on Madeira]]
|-
|[[Image:Sugarcane_flowering.JPG|thumb|right|Sugarcane flowering, Australia.]]
|-
|[[Image:Sugar cane.JPG|thumb|right|Sugarcane field in India.]]

|}

Sugarcane production greatly influenced many tropical [[Pacific islands]], most particularly [[Hawaii]] and [[Fiji]]. In these islands, sugar came to dominate the economic and political landscape after the arrival of powerful European and American agricultural business, which promoted immigration from various Asian countries for workers to tend and harvest the crop. Sugar-industry policies eventually established the ethnic makeup of the island populations that now exist, profoundly affecting modern politics and society in the islands.

Brazil is a major grower of sugarcane, which is used to produce sugar and provide the [[ethanol]] used in making gasoline-ethanol blends ([[gasohol]]) for transportation [[fuel]].

== Cultivation ==
[[Image:Sugarcane drink.JPG|thumb|left|220px]]
Sugarcane cultivation requires a tropical or subtropical climate, with a minimum of 600 mm (24 in) of annual moisture. It is one of the most efficient [[Photosynthesis|photosynthesizers]] in the [[plant kingdom]], able to convert up to 2 percent of incident solar energy into biomass{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. In prime growing regions, such as [[Peru]], [[Brasil]], [[Colombia]], [[Australia]], [[Cuba]] and [[Hawaii]], sugarcane can produce 20 kg for each square meter exposed to the sun.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

Sugarcane is propagated from cuttings, rather than from seeds; although certain types still produce seeds, modern methods of stem cuttings have become the most common method of reproduction. Each cutting must contain at least one bud, and the cuttings are usually planted by hand. Once planted, a stand of cane can be harvested several times; after each harvest, the cane sends up new stalks, called '''ratoons.''' Usually, each successive harvest gives a smaller yield, and eventually the declining yields justify replanting. Depending on agricultural practice, two to ten harvests may be possible between plantings.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

Sugarcane is harvested by hand or mechanically. Hand harvesting accounts for more than half of the world's production, and is especially dominant in the developing world. When harvested by hand, the field is first set on [[fire]]. The fire spreads rapidly, burning away dry dead leaves, and killing any [[venomous snake]]s hiding in the crop, but leaving the water-rich stalks and roots unharmed. With knives (usually [[Cane knife|Cane knives]], but [[Machete]]s are also commonly used), harvesters then cut the standing cane just above the ground. A skilled harvester can cut 500 kg of sugarcane in an hour.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
[[Image:Caminhão Carregado.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Sugarcane mechanical harvest in [[Jaboticabal]], [[São Paulo state]], [[Brazil]].]]

With mechanical harvesting, a sugarcane [[combine harvester|combine]] (or chopper harvester), a harvesting machine originally developed in [[Australia]], is used. The Austoft 7000 series was the original design for the modern harvester and has now been copied by other companies including Cameco. The machine cuts the cane at the base of the stalk, separates the cane from its leaves, and deposits the cane into a cart while blowing the cut leaves back onto the field. Such machines can harvest 100 tonnes of cane each hour, but cane harvested using these machines must be transported to the processing plant rapidly; once cut, sugarcane begins to lose its sugar content, and damage inflicted on the cane during mechanical harvesting accelerates this decay.

Sugar cane is cultivated in almost all the world only for some months of the year, in a period called '[[safra]]'. The only place in the world where there is no 'safra', and therefore sugar cane is cultivated and produced year round is in [[Colombia]] in [[South America]].

==Pests==
The most important sugarcane pests are the [[larva]]e of some [[lepidoptera]] species, including [[turnip moth]], the sugarcane borer, ''Diatraea saccharalis'' and the Mexican rice borer (''Eoreuma loftini''), leaf-cutting ants, termites, spittlebugs (especially ''Mahanarva fimbriolata'' and ''Deois flavopicta'') and the beetle ''Migdolus fryanus'', among others.

===Diseases===
{{Main|List of sugarcane diseases}}

== Processing ==
Traditionally, sugarcane has been processed in two stages. Sugarcane mills, located in sugarcane-producing regions, extract sugar from freshly harvested sugarcane, resulting in raw sugar for later refining, and in "mill white" sugar for local consumption. Sugar refineries, often located in heavy sugar-consuming regions, such as [[North America]], [[Europe]], and [[Japan]], then purify raw sugar to produce refined white sugar, a product that is more than 99 percent pure [[sucrose]]. These two stages are slowly becoming blurred. Increasing affluence in the sugar-producing tropics has led to an increase in demand for refined sugar products in those areas, where a trend toward combined milling and refining has developed.

=== Milling ===
In a sugar mill, sugarcane is washed, chopped, and shredded by revolving knives. The shredded cane is repeatedly mixed with water and crushed between rollers; the collected juices (called [[garapa]] in Brazil) contain 10–15 percent sucrose, and the remaining fibrous solids, called [[bagasse]], are burned for fuel. Bagasse makes a sugar mill more than self-sufficient in energy; the surplus bagasse can be used for animal feed, in paper manufacture, or burned to generate electricity for the local power grid.

The cane juice is next mixed with [[Lime (mineral)|lime]] to adjust its [[pH]] to 7. This mixing arrests sucrose's decay into glucose and fructose, and precipitates out some impurities. The mixture then sits, allowing the lime and other suspended solids to settle out, and the clarified juice is concentrated in a [[multiple-effect evaporator]] to make a syrup about 60 percent by weight in sucrose. This syrup is further concentrated under vacuum until it becomes [[supersaturated]], and then seeded with crystalline sugar. Upon cooling, sugar crystallizes out of the syrup. A [[centrifuge]] is used to separate the sugar from the remaining liquid, or [[molasses]]. Additional crystallizations may be performed to extract more sugar from the molasses; the molasses remaining after no more sugar can be extracted from it in a cost-effective fashion is called blackstrap.

Raw sugar has a yellow to brown colour. If a white product is desired, [[sulfur dioxide]] may be bubbled through the cane juice before evaporation; this chemical bleaches many color-forming impurities into colourless ones. Sugar bleached white by this ''sulfitation'' process is called "mill white," "plantation white," and "crystal sugar." This form of sugar is the form most commonly consumed in sugarcane-producing countries.

=== Refining ===
[[Image:UsinaSantaElisa.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The Santa Elisa sugarcane processing plant, one of the largest and oldest in Brazil, is located in Sertãozinho, Brazil. Photo by [[Renato M.E. Sabbatini]]]]
In sugar refining, raw sugar is further purified. It is first mixed with heavy syrup and then centrifuged clean. This process is called 'affination'; its purpose is to wash away the outer coating of the raw sugar crystals, which is less pure than the crystal interior. The remaining sugar is then dissolved to make a syrup, about 70 percent by weight solids.

The sugar solution is clarified by the addition of [[phosphoric acid]] and [[calcium hydroxide]], which combine to precipitate [[calcium phosphate]]. The calcium phosphate particles entrap some impurities and absorb others, and then float to the top of the tank, where they can be skimmed off. An alternative to this "phosphatation" technique is '[[carbonatation]],' which is similar, but uses [[carbon dioxide]] and calcium hydroxide to produce a [[calcium carbonate]] precipitate.

After any remaining solids are filtered out, the clarified syrup is decolorized by filtration through a bed of [[activated carbon]]; [[bone char]] was traditionally used in this role, but its use is no longer common. Some remaining colour-forming impurities adsorb to the carbon bed. The purified syrup is then concentrated to supersaturation and repeatedly crystallized under vacuum, to produce [[white refined sugar]]. As in a sugar mill, the sugar crystals are separated from the molasses by centrifuging. Additional sugar is recovered by blending the remaining syrup with the washings from affination and again crystallizing to produce [[brown sugar]]. When no more sugar can be economically recovered, the final molasses still contains 20–30 percent sucrose and 15–25 percent glucose and fructose.

To produce [[granulated sugar]], in which the individual sugar grains do not clump together, sugar must be dried. Drying is accomplished first by drying the sugar in a hot rotary dryer, and then by conditioning the sugar by blowing cool air through it for several days.

===Ribbon cane syrup===
[[Image:Cane syrup evaporator 1330.jpg|thumb|right|Evaporator with baffled pan and foam dipper for making ribbon cane syrup.
Three Rivers Historical Society Museum at Browntown, South Carolina]]

Ribbon cane is a subtropical type that was once widely grown in southern [[United States]], as far north as coastal [[North Carolina]]. The juice was extracted with horse or mule-powered crushers; the juice was boiled, like [[maple syrup]], in a flat pan, and then used in the syrup to form as a sweetener for other foods. It is not a commercial crop nowadays, but a few growers try to keep alive the old traditions and find ready sales for their product. Most sugarcane production in the United States occurs in [[Florida]] and [[Louisiana]], and to a lesser extent in [[Hawaii]] and [[Texas]].

== Production ==

{| class="wikitable" align=left style="clear:left"
|+ Top 10 Sugarcane Producers - 2005
!Country!!1000 tonnes
|-
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Brazil]] || align="right" | 422,926
|-
| {{flagicon|India}} [[India]] || align="right" | 232,300
|-
| {{flagicon|China}} [[China]] || align="right" | 87,768
|-
| {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Pakistan]] || align="right" | 47,244
|-
| {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Mexico]] || align="right" | 45,195
|-
| {{flagicon|Thailand}} [[Thailand]] || align="right" | 43,665
|-
| {{flagicon|Colombia}} [[Colombia]] || align="right" | 39,849
|-
| {{flagicon|Australia}} [[Australia]] || align="right" | 37,822
|-
| {{flagicon|Indonesia}} [[Indonesia]] || align="right" | 29,505
|-
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[USA]] || align="right" | 25,307
|-
|-
|'''World Total''' || align="right" | '''1,011,581'''
|-
|colspan=2|''Source: [[UN Food & Agriculture Organisation]] (FAO)''<ref>[http://faostat.fao.org/site/340/default.aspx faostat.fao.org]</ref>
|}

Brown sugar still contains molasess that contains iron and calcium

==Sugarcane as food==
[[Image:Sugar cane juice Dhaka.jpg|thumb|right|[[Sugarcane juice]] vendors in [[Dhaka]], [[Bangladesh]]]]
In most countries where sugarcane is cultivated, there are several foods and popular dishes derived from it, such as:
* Direct consumption of raw sugarcane cylinders or cubes, which are chewed to extract the juice, and the bagasse is spat out
* Freshly extracted juice ([[garapa]], ''guarab, guarapa,'' ''guarapo,'' ''papelón,'' or ''caldo de cana'') by hand or electrically operated small mills, with a touch of [[lemon]] and ice, makes a delicious and popular drink.
* [[Molasses]], used as a [[sweetener]] and as a syrup accompanying other foods, such as [[cheese]] or cookies
* [[Rapadura]], a [[candy]] made of flavored solid brown sugar in Brazil, which can be consumed in small hard blocks, or in pulverized form (flour), as an add-on to other [[dessert]]s.
* Sugarcane is also used in [[rum]] production, especially in the Caribbean.
* Cane sugar syrup was the traditional sweetener in soft drinks for many years, but has been largely supplanted (in the US at least) by [[high-fructose corn syrup]], which is less expensive, but does not taste quite like the sugar it replaces.

==References==

<div class="references-small">
<references />
</div>

*Bailey, L. H. and Bailey, E. Z. 1976. ''Hortus Third: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada''. MacMillan Publishing Company, New York

==See also==
{{commonscat|Saccharum}}
* [[Sugar plantations in the Caribbean]]
* [[Ethanol fuel in Brazil]]
* [[Cachaça]]
* [[Brazil Cachaça]]
* [[Sugarcane juice]]

==External links==
*[http://www.ethical-sugar.org/ Ethical Sugar NGO - specialized on social, communitarian and environmental sugarcane issues]

*[http://www.fao.org/es/ess/top/commodity.html;jsessionid=DFB41A33961E22240EFD874557E18A73?lang=en&item=156&year=2005 FAO production figures]
*[http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/policy/agriculture_environment/commodities/sugarcane/environmental_impacts/index.cfm Environmental impacts of Sugar Cane]
*[http://www.nfsp-philippines.org National Federation of Sugarcane Planters-Philippines]
*[http://www.e-sra.org Websites of Sugar Regulatory Administration-Philippines ]
*[http://www.bioenergytrade.org/downloads/sustainabilityofbrazilianbioethanol.pdf Sustainability of Brazilian bio-ethanol], conducted by the Copernicus Institute at Universiteit Utrecht.
* [http://www.cachaca.ind.br/ Cachaça Brazil]
* [http://www.cachacagabriela.com.br/english Cachaça Gabriela - Organic]
*http://sugarcane-breeding.tn.nic.in/

==Further reading==
* [http://www.columbia.edu/~kjh2103/US-Bagasse-Cogen-Potential.pdf ''The Potential of Bagasse-Based Cogeneration in the US''], Kevin Ho, Columbia University, 2006.

[[Category:Grasses]]
[[Category:Crops]]
[[Category:Sweeteners]]
[[Category:Energy crops]]

Sugarcane - Revision history

MediaWiki default at 09:49, 4 September 2007