Sugar II

When we think of sugar, usually the standard white granulated sugar that is seen in packets comes to mind.
But in the scientific world, sugar is a far more complex subject. Molecules of complex sugar molecules are more commonly known as carbohydrates, while more simple sugar compounds are plainly “simple sugars.” In actuality, all sugars are carbohydrates – they contain a carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in the empirical formula C_n (H_2 O)_n. The underscore _ indicates the location of a subscript. In this configuration, it can easily be seen that carbohydrates are hydrates of carbon molecules – hence the name carbohydrate. For simplicity, carbohydrates are usually written in the form C_n H_2n O_n with {n ∈ Z 3 ≤ n ≤ 7}.

Carbohydrates are the main energy source of all organisms. As I mentioned before, these sugars vary widely in chemical composition – from the simple monosaccharides and disaccharides to more complex oligosaccharides – which contain up to ten molecules of ‘simple’ sugars connected by bonds. The root -saccharide derives from the Latin saccharum and Greek sakcharon. The Greeks modified this from the Prankrit sakkharā and Sanskrit śarkarā – all to mean sugar or gravel. Mono-, di-, and oligo- roots all refer to the numbers of saccharides (one, two, and ‘few’, respectively).

So how do plants produce sugars that we consume?

All plants have an organelle chloroplast which contains a green photosynthetic pigment that produces the chemical compounds with the aid of radiant energy from the light of the sun. The photosynthetic pigment is also responsible for the varying colors of green in plants. Photosynthesis is the process in which plants use radial energy from the sun (in addition to water and carbon dioxide) to form a simple glucose sugars molecule C_6 H_12 O_6. This process yields the energy plants need to survive – and it then can manufacture the more complex sucrose and fructose combinations. The photosynthetic process can be represented in a chemical equation 6 CO_2 + 6 H_2 O + sunlight →3 C_6 H_12 O_6.

In the culinary realm, because sugar does not occur in the form of glucose in plants naturally – it is usually modified from other sugar. Glucose is the main form of sugar in corn syrup. There is a distinct difference from corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup found in many processed foods. This difference is just how the syrup is produced and the enzymatic processes that occur in each.

How is normal corn syrup useful?

Because of its different chemical structure, glucose is known as a preventative measure for crystallization in simple syrup.

Simple syrup:

Although I still do not know why exactly it may be called simple – I know it is a simple combination of sugar and water; it also just happens to be very simpleto make. Simple syrup has many uses in the kitchen where a liquid form of sugar is required. The best example is adding sugar to cold drinks. Notice how it just settles to the bottom of the container…? It just does not want to dissolve.

Sugar

The human tongue can essentially detect five different flavors: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and savory (also: umami). What substances taste sweet? Sugar, of course – but why do we have a natural attraction to sugar and sweets? When we are born, we have a natural attraction to sugars, because sugars (usually) mean energy. On the same token, at a young age, many children dislike vegetable. When cooked (and exponentially worse when over-cooked) enzymes react in response to the high heat to form extremely bitter compounds. And in many cases in the natural world, poisons and toxics are bitter. As humans mature, our food pallet becomes more sophisticated and becomes more comfortable with pungent, spicy, sour, and bitter flavors. It is for this reason why adults are more comfortable consuming vegetables; their pallets are less affected to the bitter components of a dish more than the other complex harmony of aromatics and spices of a fully-‘developed’ pallet.

Studies have shown that there is a relation between the ability (and severity) of tasting PTC (phenylthiocarbamide) paper and the flavor of vegetables. PTC is a chemical which is extremely bitter to some of the population, while virtually tasteless to others. This strange difference of two extremes is dependent on a genetic encoding to taste certain bitter compounds. Those with high sensitivity to PTC (myself included) showed an extreme disgust to vegetables (I can recall placing the PTC paper on my tongue and immediately spitting it out. That taste lingered for hours – if it helps, the paper tasted like chloroquine or quinacrine that you would take for prevention against malaria.). Conversely, those who seemed to have no effect from the PTC had no issues with vegetable consumption. Therefore, some children don’t eat their vegetables because they don’t want to, but because s/he is too sensitive to the bitter compounds or even become unpalatable…so it is not entirely the kids fault.

Moving onto another subject of sugars… (I understand the majority of the text above is about bitters, but I thought it was interesting and decided to do the extra research)

Albeit not as complex as salts and flour, sugar has a unique array of varieties. Apart from the normal white granulated sugar, there is brown sugar (golden brown and dark brown), raw sugar, and all types of sugar syrups (like corn syrup). So how does sugar arrive on our supermarket shelves?

It all begins with the sugarcane stock.
Sugarcanes are any of about twenty five species of tall grasses (like bamboo) in the Saccharum genus which originated somewhere in Asia. In many cases, the sugar found in the sugarcanes at the grocery store is a hybrid of the twenty five. Cultivators carefully select the best characteristics of the sugarcane and decide which best moves to the next generation of crop. It is not uncommon for stocks to grow from six feet to as high as nineteen feet in height.

After harvest, the cultivators have several options to produce a consumer product, all based on its final destination. In Costa Rica, I have had the pleasure of taking the whole sugarcane, pressing it through rollers, and straining the pulp to produce a pitcher of a sugarcane juice. This elixir was served in a shot glass and looked like a clouded mixed drink. The taste was concentrated – sweet, but not overwhelming and with a nutty flavor. It was an opportunity to enjoy a rich Costa Rican delicacy of cold pressed sugarcane.