1. Sugar cane, 
2. Belongs to grass family, 
3. The oldest cultivated 
4. Contains sugars in 

1. Saccharum officinarum
2. Gramineae; it is a C4 grass
3. sugar plant
4. stem

Sugar cane biology

1. Extremely tall grass,
2. Stem phloem* juice contains 
3. Juice is pressed, filtrated, 

1.  up to 6 m tall (!)
2. 12–20% of sucrose in lower parts of stem
3. evaporated, centrifuged (to separate syrup from sugar crystals) and dried

Sugar cane agriculture

1. Grafted culture, it is not recommended to 
2. Short-day, sun-loving plant,
3. Requires irrigation even in humid tropics (!) and 
4. Vegetation period is up to 

1. wait until flowering
2.  optimal temperatures should be > 20 C
3. significant amounts of phosphorous
4. 250 days

1.  China and with Arabs—to Europe (Spain, 1150 AD)
2. white, filtrated sugar
3.  but it was not growing well there!). 
4. declining under the pressure of competition with sugar beet

1. Sugar beet,
2. Amaranth family, 
3. Same species with 
4. Has been selected from leaf and root beets for only 
5. Root contains up to 

1.  Beta vulgaris var. saccharifera
2. Amaranthaceae (or Chenopodicaceae in older classifications)
3. vegetable beet
4. 300 years: one of the youngest cultures
5. 20% of sucrose

Sugar beet biology

1. Biennial plant: first year with 
2. The “root” is actually intermediate structure between 
3. Has anomalous  
4. Roots are “white”: do not contain 

1. rosellate leaves, second year forms stem with non-showy flowers
2. stem and root in strict sense—hypocotyl
3. secondary growth (layers of tissues)
4. betalain (red pigment which probably helps red beet to protect tissues from fungi and animals)

Sugar beet agriculture

1. Hardy plant: North Dakota is one of the 
2. Yield is typically 
3. (pure sugar): compare with 
4. Some plants should be left for 
5. Susceptible for 

1. leading states in sugar beet cultivation
2. 70 ton/hectare (wet mass), and 12 ton/hectare
3. 100 and 10 for sugar cane
4. seeds (second year)
5. weeds (needs herbicides)

Sugar beet history

1. In 1747, the 
2. In 1810s, due to continental blockade of France, 
3. In XX century, sugar production was 
4. Leading countries now are

1. sucrose content was discovered
2. sugar mills were established across all Europe
3. almost doubled
4.  France, Germany and U.S.; one of biggest research centers is NDSU

1. Sugar maple, 
2. Tree from 
3. Old semi-cultivated plant of 
4. Spring sap is the 

1. Acer saccharum
2. Sapindaceae (Aceraceae in older classifications) family
3. eastern tribes of Native Americans
4. main source of sugar

Sugar maple features and history

1. Sap contains 2–5 % of sucrose, the season starts 
2. In total one tree could produce up to 50 liters of 
3. Production increased during 
4. Leading producer is
5. Analogous birch syrup from Betula is more 

1. in early spring and continues 4–8 weeks
2. sap per season for 60–70 years (from 30–40 to 100 years old)
3. Civil War
4.  Canada (Quebec)
5. poor, only 1–2% of sugars

1. Sweet sorghum, 
2. Grass, selection started in
3. Similar in agriculture, but much less
4. 10–20% of sucrose in  
5. Now cultivated mostly in 

1. Sorghum saccharatum
2.  1940s
3.  demanding plant than sugar cane
4. stems
5. U.S. and Argentine

1. Arenga sugar palm, 
2. Belongs to 
3. The source of
4. Inflorescences are used for taking

1. Arenga pinnata
2. palm family, Palmae
3.  “gur” sugar and also wine
4.  sap (17–20% of sucrose)

Arenga sugar palm features and history

1. Syrup are very easily 
2. Every day, palm tree gives
3. Old Indian culture spread into 

1. inverted (hydrolyzed into glucose and fructose) and should be evaporated as soon as possible
2.  5–7 liters of sap; the season is up to 8 weeks
3. south-east Asia

1. Toddy, 
2. African sugar palm, 
3. Monocarpic tree, 
4. Since the sap is fermented fast, it mostly used as a 
5. Starred in groundbreaking novel “The Palm Wine Drinkard” by

1. Caryota urens
2. one of the largest palms
3. dies after flowering
4. source of palm vine (1% of alcohol)
5.  Nigerian author Amos Tutuola

1. Mezcal, 
2. Monocarpic Mexican plant from 
3. The sap is rich of 
4. Used mostly for alcohols like 

1. tequila agave, Agave tequilana
2. asparagus family (Asparagaceae)
3. sugars, mostly fructose
4. mezcal, pulque and tequila

1. Yacon, 
2. Belongs to aster family,
3. Roots are rich of 
4. (FOS) such as 
5. Traditional Andean culture; had ceremonial importance in times of 

1. Smallanthus sonchifolius
2.  Compositae
3. inulin, fructose and fructo-oligosaccharides
4. kestose (F2)—“alternative sweeteners”
5. Mochica culture (Peru, 100–800 AD)

1. Japanese raisin tree, 
2. Large East Asian tree from 
3. Large fruit stalks (“subsidiary fruits”) may be used as
4. Has several medicinal properties

1.  Hovenia dulcis
2. buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae
3.  replacement for honey
4.  (e.g., helps recovery from alcoholism)

What is sweetness?

1. Nature of sweetness is not 
2. Probably due to specific 
3. These molecules have an effect on

1. yet fully discovered
2. Van der Waals forces occurring in variety of molecules
3.  sweet receptors—large proteins from G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) group

1. Miracle fruit, 
2. West African tree, belongs to tropical 
3. Berries convert sour tastes into
4. The effect is due to
5. Cultivation is now starting in Florida, approval as food additive is pending—it is 
6. Curculin from Curculigo latifolia (“lumbah-lumbah”), Malaysian herb from 

1. Synsepalum dulcificum, the super-sweetener
2. Sapotaceae family
3.  sweet tastes (!), effect lasts for 1 hour
4.  glycoprotein miraculin which is binding to sweet receptors
5. heat-resistant and may be used as a “sweetener”; there are genetically modified lettuce plants which produce miraculin
6. Hypoxidaceae family, has the same effect + it is also super-sweet by itself (500–2000 times sweeter than sucrose)

Anti-sweeteners

1. Several plants contain chemicals which are able to 
2. Indian herbaceous vine Gymnema sylvestris from a 
3. In addition, plant has an unrelated (?) effect in 
4. Used as a drug for curing 

1. suppress sweet receptors
2. dogbane family (Apocynaceae) contain gymnemic acids which suppress sweet taste for 10 min
3. lowering blood sugars
4. Type 2 diabetes and different forms of metabolic disorders

1. Two plants produce more than 2/3 of sugars:
2. Many tropical sugar plants are used mostly for 
3. Sweet taste still has 

1.  sugar beet (production is increasing) and sugar cane (decreasing)
2. alcohol production
3. undiscovered nature

Oil plants

Sunflower, Helianthus annuus

Peanut, Arachis hypogaea

“Canola”, rapeseed, Brassica napus

What are oils

1. Triglycerides: triesters of 
2. Liquid triglycerides are 
3. Hydrogenated oils are

1. glycerol and saturated or non-saturated fatty acids
2. oils whereas hard are fats
3.  hard derivatives of liquid plant oils

Oils features

1. High energy: 9 calories per gram, two times 
2. Slow metabolism, several t

1. more than carbohydrates or proteins
2. imes slower than of carbohydrates