Sugar
Sugar is a term for sweet carbohydrates, including glucose, fructose and galactose.[1] In everyday use, the word commonly means sucrose, the table sugar obtained commercially from sugarcane or sugar beet.[1] Sugars also affect the moisture and texture of foods, so their function in cooking extends beyond sweetness.[2]
Chemical forms
The simplest sugars are monosaccharides; glucose, fructose and galactose belong to this group.[1] Two monosaccharide units joined together form a disaccharide: sucrose contains glucose and fructose, maltose contains two glucose units, and lactose, or milk sugar, combines glucose with galactose.[1] Fructose occurs in fruit, while lactose is associated with milk.[1] These names distinguish different molecules; table sugar is one member of the wider group.[1]
Production and historical development
In traditional cane processing, mills pressed the stalks to release a dilute juice; boiling removed water, and cooling the concentrated liquid produced sugar crystals.[3] A series of progressively smaller kettles concentrated the juice.[3] As the proportion of dissolved sugar rose, so did the boiling point, requiring successively higher temperatures to continue removing water.[3]
Norbert Rillieux developed a multiple-effect evaporator that used closed pans, reused heat from one stage in the next, and reduced pressure to lower the temperature needed for evaporation.[3] This made concentrating the juice more efficient than the earlier open-kettle process.[3]
The expansion of cane production in the Caribbean and the Americas was closely connected with slavery: enslaved Africans supplied much of the labour on plantations.[3] Sugar's changing availability also reshaped consumption.[4] In colonial Maryland it was expensive enough to mark affluence; later growth of the beet-sugar industry contributed to wider American consumption.[4] Soft drinks became more popular during American Prohibition.[4] During sugar rationing from 1942, cookbooks proposed sweetening cakes with syrup saved from tinned fruit.[4]
Forms and uses in food
White sugar is almost pure sucrose; brown sugar includes molasses, which contributes flavour and moisture-retaining properties.[2] Brown sugar is acidic, so it behaves differently from white sugar in baking.[2]
Sugar also changes the behaviour of frozen mixtures.[5] In ice cream, dissolved sugar lowers the freezing point, allowing some liquid to remain alongside the ice crystals.[5]
Diet and dental health
A 2014 systematic review of 55 studies examined the relationship between sugar intake and tooth decay.[6] It found moderate-quality evidence of less decay when free sugars supplied less than 10% of dietary energy; evidence concerning a threshold below 5% was judged very low quality.[6] Differences in the studies' data limited statistical pooling of their results.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Saulo, Aurora A. (March 2005). "Sugars and Sweeteners in Foods" (PDF). College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
All sugars are carbohydrates
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Parks, Stella (2024-01-05). "Cookie Science: The Real Differences Between Brown and White Sugars". Serious Eats. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
99% pure sucrose […] addition of bitter molasses […] Brown sugar is acidic […] Both sugars are hygroscopic
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Melhado, William (2022-12-01). "Sugar: 'White Gold' Transforming America". ChemMatters. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
series of closed evaporating pans
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Rothenberg Gritz, Jennie (May 2017). "The Unsavory History of Sugar, the Insatiable American Craving". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
affluent enough to afford sugar […] sugar beet industry grew […] soda surged in popularity […] syrup left over from canned fruit
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Rohrig, Brian (February–March 2014). "Ice, Cream... and Chemistry" (PDF). ChemMatters: 6–9. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
dissolved solutes (mostly sugar) […] liquid portion […] lower its freezing point
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Moynihan, P. J.; Kelly, S. A. M. (January 2014). "Effect on caries of restricting sugars intake: systematic review to inform WHO guidelines". Journal of Dental Research. 93 (1): 8–18. doi:10.1177/0022034513508954. PMID 24323509. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
Data variability limited meta-analysis
Attribution
This is an attributed adaptation of English Wikipedia's Sugar, revision 1379406046, with contributor history, accessed 13 October 2026. The prose has been rewritten and condensed, cited source passages checked, and links and structure reviewed for Tilcayo Cats. Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.