Editing Sucrose (section)

===Types===

====Cane====
{{Main|Sugarcane}}
[[File:Cut sugarcane.jpg|thumb|Harvested sugarcane from Venezuela ready for processing]]
Since the 6th century BCE, cane sugar producers have crushed the harvested vegetable material from sugarcane in order to collect and filter the juice. They then treat the liquid, often with lime ([[calcium oxide]]), to remove impurities and then neutralize it. Boiling the juice then allows the sediment to settle to the bottom for dredging out, while the scum rises to the surface for skimming off. In cooling, the liquid crystallizes, usually in the process of stirring, to produce sugar crystals. [[Centrifuge]]s usually remove the uncrystallized syrup. The producers can then either sell the sugar product for use as is, or process it further to produce lighter grades. The later processing may take place in another factory in another country.

Sugarcane is a major component of Brazilian agriculture; the country is the world's largest producer of sugarcane and its derivative products, such as crystallized sugar and [[ethanol]] ([[ethanol fuel]]).<ref>{{cite web|title=Top Sugarcane Producing Countries: Brazil outperforms its next 6 closest competitors combined|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-sugarcane-producing-countries.html|publisher=World Atlas|access-date=2 January 2018|date=25 April 2017|archive-date=3 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103082507/https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-sugarcane-producing-countries.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Beet====
[[File:SugarBeet.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Sugar beets]]
{{Main|Sugar beet}}
Beet sugar producers slice the washed beets, then extract the sugar with hot water in a "[[Diffuser (heat)|diffuser]]". An alkaline solution ("[[Lime water|milk of lime]]" and [[carbon dioxide]] from the lime kiln) then serves to [[precipitation (chemistry)|precipitate]] impurities (see [[carbonatation]]). After filtration,{{Clarify|date=February 2010}} evaporation concentrates the juice to a content of about 70% solids, and controlled crystallisation extracts the sugar. A centrifuge removes the sugar crystals from the liquid, which gets recycled in the crystalliser stages. When economic constraints prevent the removal of more sugar, the manufacturer discards the remaining liquid, now known as [[molasses]], or sells it on to producers of animal feed.

Sieving the resultant white sugar produces different grades for selling.

=====Cane versus beet=====
It is difficult to distinguish between fully refined sugar produced from beet and cane. One way is by [[isotope analysis]] of carbon. Cane uses [[C4 carbon fixation]], and beet uses [[C3 carbon fixation]], resulting in a different ratio of [[carbon 13|<sup>13</sup>C]] and [[carbon 12|<sup>12</sup>C]] isotopes in the sucrose. Tests are used to detect fraudulent abuse of [[European Union]] subsidies or to aid in the detection of adulterated [[fruit juice]].

Sugar cane tolerates hot climates better, but the production of sugar cane needs approximately four times as much water as the production of sugar beet. As a result, some countries that traditionally produced cane sugar (such as [[Egypt]]) have built new beet sugar factories since about 2008. Some sugar factories process both sugar cane and sugar beets and extend their processing period in that way.

The production of sugar leaves residues that differ substantially depending on the raw materials used and on the place of production. While cane molasses is often used in food preparation, humans find molasses from sugar beets unpalatable, and it consequently ends up mostly as [[industrial fermentation]] feedstock (for example in [[ethanol|alcohol]] distilleries), or as [[compound feed|animal feed]]. Once dried, either type of molasses can serve as fuel for burning.

Pure beet sugar is difficult to find, so labelled, in the marketplace. Although some makers label their product clearly as "pure cane sugar", beet sugar is almost always labeled simply as sugar or pure sugar. Interviews with the five major beet sugar-producing companies revealed that many store brands or "private label" sugar products are pure beet sugar. The lot code can be used to identify the company and the plant from which the sugar came, enabling beet sugar to be identified if the codes are known.<ref>[https://ibstreatmentcenter.com/Newsletters/Jan10.pdf January 2010 Newsletter] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924162218/https://ibstreatmentcenter.com/Newsletters/Jan10.pdf |date=2010-09-24 }}, IBS Treatment Center</ref>

====Culinary sugars====
[[File:Raw sugar closeup.jpg|thumb|Grainy raw sugar]]

=====Mill white=====
Mill white, also called plantation white, crystal sugar or superior sugar is produced from raw sugar. It is exposed to [[sulfur dioxide]] during the production to reduce the concentration of color compounds and helps prevent further color development during the crystallization process. Although common to sugarcane-growing areas, this product does not store or ship well. After a few weeks, its impurities tend to promote discoloration and clumping; therefore this type of sugar is generally limited to local consumption.<ref>{{cite book | author = Steindl, Roderick | date = 2005 | title = Syrup Clarification for Plantation White Sugar to meet New Quality Standards | editor = Hogarth, DM | publisher = Proceedings of the XXV Congress of International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists | pages = 106–16 | location = Guatemala, Guatemala City | url = https://eprints.qut.edu.au/4888/1/4888_1.pdf | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130810042657/https://eprints.qut.edu.au/4888/1/4888_1.pdf | archive-date = 2013-08-10 }}</ref>

=====Blanco directo=====
Blanco directo, a white sugar common in India and other south Asian countries, is produced by precipitating many impurities out of cane juice using [[phosphoric acid]] and [[calcium hydroxide]], similar to the [[carbonatation]] technique used in beet sugar refining. Blanco directo is more pure than mill white sugar, but less pure than white refined.

=====White refined=====
{{See also|White sugar}}
White refined is the most common form of sugar in North America and Europe. Refined sugar is made by dissolving and purifying raw sugar using [[phosphoric acid]] similar to the method used for blanco directo, a [[carbonatation]] process involving calcium hydroxide and carbon dioxide, or by various filtration strategies. It is then further purified by filtration through a bed of [[activated carbon]] or [[bone char]]. Beet sugar refineries produce refined white sugar directly without an intermediate raw stage.{{Clarify|date=February 2010}}

White refined sugar is typically sold as '''''granulated sugar''''', which has been dried to prevent clumping and comes in various crystal sizes for home and industrial use:
[[Image:Sucre blanc cassonade complet rapadura.jpg|thumb|Sugars; clockwise from top left: Refined, unrefined, brown, unprocessed cane]]
* {{Anchor|Coarse-grain}}'''Coarse-grain''', such as ''sanding sugar'' (also called "pearl sugar", "decorating sugar", ''nibbed sugar'' or ''sugar nibs'') is a coarse grain sugar used to add sparkle and flavor atop baked goods and candies. Its large reflective crystals will not dissolve when subjected to heat.
* '''Granulated''', familiar as table sugar, with a grain size about 0.5&nbsp;mm across.<ref name="tryengineering">[https://www.tryengineering.org/lessons/sugarnano.pdf Sugar Crystal Challenge] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508221320/https://www.tryengineering.org/lessons/sugarnano.pdf |date=2013-05-08 }}. IEEE</ref> "[[Sugar cube]]s" are lumps for convenient consumption produced by mixing granulated sugar with sugar syrup.
* {{Anchor|Caster}}'''Caster''' (0.35&nbsp;mm),<ref name="tryengineering" /> a very fine sugar in Britain and other Commonwealth countries, so-named because the grains are small enough to fit through a [[sugar caster]] which is a small vessel with a perforated top, from which to sprinkle sugar at table.<ref name="OED">"castor, n.2." OED Online. Oxford University Press, June 2017. Web. 25 July 2017. It says castor is a misspelling that is now the preferred spelling.</ref> Commonly used in baking and mixed drinks, it is sold as '''"superfine"''' sugar in the United States. Because of its fineness, it dissolves faster than regular white sugar and is especially useful in meringues and cold liquids. Caster sugar can be prepared at home by grinding granulated sugar for a couple of minutes in a mortar or food processor.
* '''[[Powdered sugar|Powdered]]''', ''10X sugar,'' ''confectioner's sugar'' (0.060&nbsp;mm), or ''icing sugar'' (0.024&nbsp;mm), produced by grinding sugar to a fine powder. The manufacturer may add a small amount of [[anticaking agent]] to prevent clumping&nbsp;— either [[corn starch]] (1% to 3%) or tri-[[calcium phosphate]].

[[File:Sa brownsugar.jpg|thumb|Brown sugar crystals]]
'''[[Brown sugar]]''' comes either from the late stages of cane sugar refining, when sugar forms fine crystals with significant molasses content, or from coating white refined sugar with a cane molasses syrup (blackstrap molasses). Brown sugar's color and taste become stronger with increasing molasses content, as do its moisture-retaining properties. Brown sugars also tend to harden if exposed to the atmosphere, although proper handling can reverse this.