A thousand-year history of sugar, a product that we can not do without

On the unconditional benefit or the undeniable harm of sugar for human health has long argued scientists. They say that this product is almost poisonous, then they say that it is a panacea for all diseases (by the way, as a medicine it was also started to be used). That - sweet delicacy, then - white death. But we will not rush to extremes, because today's speech will not go about this. What is the history of sugar, such a product we need? About where and when he appeared, find out from this article.

The thousand-year history of sugar in pictures

Even in ancient India more than 5000 years ago, he learned to extract from a plant - sugar cane. Warriors of Macedon, having entered the land of India, drew attention to an unknown substance, solid, in the form of small crystals, sweet taste. It was raw sugar, the first one described, from which the history of sugar began. Onesicrit, a Greek historian who accompanied the tsar in campaigns, was very impressed by the fact that honey gives cane, without the help of bees, as he described in his report.

In India, sweet crystals, obtained from cane juice by extraction, were called "saccara" (literally - sand or pebbles). This root of the word and entered later in many languages of our planet. After all, look, everywhere sugar with various small variations is called almost the same! This is the history of sugar, like words.

Origin of reeds

This plant was grown, probably, even under the primitive system, from the most immemorial times. According to modern science, the birthplace of reeds for the manufacture of sugar is New Guinea. Further, he gradually settled on the islands, keeping his way to India and China, where he also got accustomed to and was cultivated. In the Arab countries, he came from India, and already before his era there he was grown to obtain a magical white crystal. Persians were the first to learn how to make a raw sugar refined by repeatedly boiling a product. Europeans get acquainted with the plant and its derivative - sugar - from the same Arabs and equip the plantations of reeds on Madeira and the Canary Islands. It was a very profitable enterprise. So, in England, for example, as early as the 14th century, a pound of delicacies was given 44 pounds of money.

Caravans with sugar

More than two thousand years ago the Persians began to transport sugar to Arabia, Egypt and the Mediterranean. According to Pliny, in those days, sugar is made in the form of small white (the size of a nut) pieces and is used mainly in medicine. In solid form, the product was easier to transport for long distances. It begins delivery by caravans through Central Asia, then to the ports of the Mediterranean and from there to Greece and Rome.

The Middle Ages and the Renaissance

The history of sugar in the "dark" Middle Ages: this product was considered a medicine and was sold mainly in pharmacies. However, some historians argue that healers acted more like shopkeepers, selling sweet people to prosperous townspeople. Christian Europe underestimates this product, which gradually begins to spread in the royal courts and receptions. It is believed that the Crusaders played a big role in spreading sugar in Europe. It is they who for the first time open Arab plantations of sugar cane in Palestine, Syria for Europeans. Thanks to their participation, the cane settles in southern Italy and France.

In the 15th century, Venice produces a production of raw materials from trade with India. Purified sugar takes on a conical shape and travels to its further journey across Europe. Another Portuguese capital of trade and processing is Portuguese Lisbon.

The Conquest of America and Europe

A sharp turn in the "sugar" history - the conquest of the New World. Columbus in Santo Domingo planted canary reeds for the production of delicacies. At the beginning of the 16th century, there are already more than twenty factories producing raw sugar and then processing it. Cortes brings cane to Mexico, and Mexican plantations also become extensive. Sweet product conquers Brazil, Peru, other countries, which are also covered by sugar plantations. In Europe, this matter is a little behind. Almost a century later, France and Portugal, Italy and Spain are connected to the organization of plantations.

Trip around the world

At the beginning of the 19th century, the first round-the-world journey of sugar was held! It lasted several thousand years. Starting from the Pacific islands, sugar has conquered all the continents, now it is an international product by right.

History of sugar in Russia

The product first reaches Russia sometime in the 12th century, but at first it does not take root, it is not necessary, as they say, to the table. Overseas goods appear on the royal table in the 16th century, thanks to the development of the sea trade route through Arkhangelsk. The real history of sugar in Russia begins in the middle of the 17th century (at the same time in fashion - tea and coffee). The sweet product increases in supplies from abroad, but even then it remains inaccessible and quite expensive.

Tsar Peter tries to solve the problem by obliging one of the merchants to open and maintain a sugar plant at his own expense (even a decree was issued on this matter). For a while, the import of sugar stops, replacing completely domestic production. But the pace of demand continues to increase, and already in the 18th century, manufacturers are racking their brains in search of a new raw material base. Preference was given to beets, as a sugar-containing product. This vegetable successfully replaces the supplied reed in the field of production. Since then, imported sugar has been finally replaced by domestic sugar. This is the history of sugar - for children or for adults, all the same - the main thing is that this sweetness is an important and necessary for all mankind product, without which it is already difficult for us to do!