Importance Of Sugarcane

A plant that I believe that has the changed the world is Saccharum officinarum better known as sugarcane. Sugar cane is a member of the grass family and is given the botanical name of Saccharum officinarum. Like other grasses, sugarcane has jointed stems and sheathing leaf bases, with leaves, shoots, and roots all coming from these stem joints. (Macinnis, 2002) This plant has had a great impact on the world we know today. In the 1500s, sugarcane changed the world in a big way as it caused a trading increase between the Canary Islands and South America. The increasing demand for sugar from the sugarcane also caused many plantations to be established widespread in the western hemisphere. Sugarcane has been known to be a water-intensive crop which

In today’s modern society sugar is quite prevalent to the modern diet and is becoming an increasing source of biofuels and bioplastics. (Fund, 2017)

It is thought the sugarcane originated from New Guinea in the South Pacific roughly 8000 years ago, which then spread to the nearby Solomon Island, the New Hebrides, and New Caledonia. (Tomerb,2013) Around 2000 years later sugarcane had reached Indonesia, the Philippines, and then finally Northern India. Sugarcane was also observed to have an Eastward spread which was traced to the migrations of the Pacific Islanders when it had arrived in Hawaii between 600 and 1100 A.D. The introduction of sugarcane to China from India occurred around 800 B.C. A form of crude sugar began being produce by 400 B.C and 700 A.D., the Indians began commercially exploiting it in the sub-continent. On the other hand, in China, the sugarcane was being boiled down to produce a sun-dried juice called “stone honey”. (Tomerb,2013) In around 510 B.C, a Persian military expedition recorded findings of sugarcane in the sub-continent while later Alexander the Great