10: alcohols and sugar

Distinguish monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides and provide examples of each

• Monosaccharides: monomer carbohydrates that can be by themselves

  • Simple sugars

  • Examples:

    • Glucose: not sweet, immediate product of photosynthesis and used to generate ATP

    • Fructose (isomers): sweet, made from a conversion of glucose, concentrated in fruits, and used for attraction of seed dispersers

• Disaccharides : two monosaccharides joined together

  • Example:

    • Sucrose: glucose + fructose. readily found in phloem because it is the primary form by which sugars are transported throughout the plant body

    • Lactose

• Polysaccharides: carbohydrates containing multiple monosaccharide units

  • Examples:

    • Starches: store glucose for later use by the plant. Used for long term energy storage

    • Cellulose: incorporated into plant cell walls and provides rigidity to the plant body. In animals, only digested by gut microbial communities

Outline major and minor sugar-producing crops discussed in class including their history, processing, and importance in particular cultures/economies

• Sugar Cane:

  • Family: Poaceae (grass family)

  • Native to Eastern Asia

  • History

    • Domesticated as early as 8,000 BC

    • spread from New Guinea throughout Eastern Asia & India, and eventually to Northern Africa and the Mediterranean.

    • Indians learned how to crystallize sucrose from the plant juice

    • Europeans first began using sugar in the 12th century, after Crusaders brought home sugar from the holy land

    • Large scale production began in the 14th century

    • In 1493 Columbus brough sugar cane seedlings to Hispaniola. 

    • 18th and 19th century trade of cotton, tobacco and sugar from the Caribbean and America to Europe was motivation for slave imports from Africa. Key part of the Caribbean plantation economy, driving the Atlantic slave trade

  • Processing

    • Juice is extracted, boiled to make crystallized sugar, and molasses is a byproduct

  • India is now the largest sugar producer

  • Brazil is the largest sugar exporter

• Sugar Beet:

  • Amaranthaceae (amaranth family)

  • Native to Europe

  • History

    • Bred in the late 1700s

    • Rise of the sugar beet for sugar production is linked to Napoleonic wats of the early 1800's

  • Processing: sugar is extracted from the roots which are 20% sucrose

  • Culture and Economy:

    • About 20% of the worlds sucrose comes from beets now

    • Helped europe become less reliant on imported cane sugar

• Sugar Maple

  • Native to eastern North America

  • Tree sap is tapped in early spring

  • Boiled and Produces maple syrup

  • Culture and Economy:

    • Traditionally important in native american and colonial diets

Agave

• Native to mexico and the american southwest

• Processing:

  • Juice is extracted from pressed stems and boiled into agave nectar which has high fructose content

• Produces agave nectar

• Comes from the juice of pressed stems

• High % of fructose (super sweet)

• Culture and Economy:

  • Traditionally used in mesoamerican cultures

  • Now a natural sweetner

Maize

• Native to mexico

• Historically, supported the ancient civilizations of middle and south america. And is still an essential food throughout the same regions

• Cultivated in temperate regions worldwide

• Most important crop plant in the U.S

• Corn syrup: made by breaking down starches from corn into glucose

• High fructose corn syrup: as sweet as cane or beet sugar, but less expensive

Describe the production from corn of ethanol and high-fructose corn syrup and the economic roles played by each

• Ethanol

  • Produced by fermenting corn starch into alcohol

  • Used in gasoline blends

  • Economically, it supports corn farmers and provides an alternative fuel source

  • Ethically, some evidence suggests that ethanol production may worsen climate issues rather than help

• High-Fructose Corn Syrup

  • Made by breaking down corn starch into glucose using amylase enzymes. Then a portion of the glucose is turned into fructose using glucose isomerase

  • Fructose ends up being about as sweet as cane sugar but much cheaper

  • Used in many processed foods and beverages because of cost

Explain the general method and importance of distilling corn into whiskey in the early days of settlement in the American Midwest

• Corn was a major crop in the midwest and was often used for distillation into whiskey

• Process: corn starch is converted into sugar, then fermented into alcohol, and distilled into whisky

• Whiskey became an important economic product, especially in rural areas where transporting grain was harder than transporting liquid alcohol

• Led to the whiskey rebellion, where farmers protested taxes on whiskey, showing how vital it was to local economies and livelyhoods

Assess the argument that corn is now a means of converting sunlight into a  versatile carbohydrate for the food (and other) industries

• Corn converts sunlight into glucose via photosynthesis

• Glucose can then be converted into

  • Starches, HFCS, ethanol, corn oil, etc

• The versatility supports numerous industries including food, fuel, and alcohol

• Corn is also essential in industrial agriculture, especially in processed foods, but there are concerns about health impacts

Compare and contrast US government policies that support grain and sugar producers and describe the effect on prices in the marketplace

• Corn is subsidized, meaning the govt gives financial support to growers

  • Keeps production high and prices low

  • Benefits producers of HFCS and ethanol, making these products cheaper to use and more prevelant in foods and fuel

• Sugar prices in the US are protected through loans, import quotas, and tariffs

  • These policies keep domestic sugar prices artificially high, protecting US producers from cheaper international sugar

• Effect on marketplace

  • Encourages overproduction of corn-based products.

    • Contributes to processed food diets

  • Distorts market prices globally, as US government intervention prevents free-market pricing for both sugar and corn

  • Leads to global tensions and trade issues over agricultural products and pricing fairness