Comprehensive Notes on Peppers, Sugars, and Alcoholic Beverages

Capsicum

• Bell peppers, jalapenos, and Asian peppers are all the same species but differ in spiciness.
• Bell peppers have had the capsicum (spicy component) removed.
• Jalapenos are about halfway up the spiciness scale.
• Some Asian peppers are bred to be extremely hot.
• Capsicum is extracted from some peppers to be used in pepper spray.

Sugars

• Sugar is a major product derived from plants.
• Plants produce sugar through photosynthesis as their primary energy source.
• From a chemist's perspective, sugar is a carbohydrate with the formula CxH{2x}O_x.
• Sucrose, a disaccharide, is commonly bought as sugar in stores.
• Plants produce monosaccharides, transport disaccharides, and store polysaccharides or oligosaccharides.
• Bee sugar (honey) differs from sucrose, containing monosaccharides, disaccharides, natural minerals, and proteins.
• Honey contains fructose, glucose, and about 8% other substances, offering some health benefits compared to pure sugar.

Sources of Sugar

• Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) and sugar beets are the two major sources of sugar.
• While sugar beets have a higher percentage of sugar in their sap (17-20%), sugarcane can be grown in larger quantities per hectare.
• Other sources include sorghum syrup, palm syrup, and maple syrup.
• Maple syrup is an American-bred sugar that originated with Native Americans.

Sugarcane

• Sugarcane is a tall plant that grows in tropical areas.
• It was first domesticated over 3,000 years ago.
• Sugarcane stems are harvested and shipped for processing.
• Sugarcane cultivation has led to the destruction of tropical forests and is often done through burning fields, making it an unhealthy practice.

Sugar Refining

• Raw sugar is shipped to countries for refining.
• Different types of sugar (crystallized, powdered, sugar cubes, brown sugar) are produced through various refining processes.
• Powdered sugar is made by grinding sugar crystals and mixing them with cornstarch.
• Sugar cubes are crystals glued together with sugar syrup.
• Brown sugar is refined sugar mixed with molasses.
• Molasses is a byproduct of sugar refining and is cheaper but doesn't taste as good for baking.
• Sugars are heavily processed items, with widespread use only since the industrial age.

History of Sugarcane

• Sugarcane was first produced in New Guinea.
• It reached Europe around the 11th century during the Crusades and was very expensive.
• In 1319, sugar cost the equivalent of $220 per pound in today's prices.
• Columbus introduced sugarcane to the Caribbean, leading to its widespread cultivation in the West Indies and Florida.

Sugar Triangle and Slavery

• The sugar trade was a major driver of imperialism and the slave trade.
• The Sugar Triangle involved the movement of slaves to the Caribbean to produce sugar, which was then shipped to Europe.
• Rum production in the Caribbean also relied on sugar and grains, with the US providing grain and receiving slaves.
• The trade drove the rum, sugar, and slave trades until abolition movements.

Sugar Act and Revolutionary War

• In 1764, the Sugar Act taxed sugar in the Americas, contributing to the tensions that led to the Revolutionary War.
• The Sugar Act and tea tax fueled protests and the war for independence.

Sugar Beets

• Sugar beets emerged as a competitor to sugarcane in the 1800s.
• Most sugar production is now subsidized and highly politicized.
• Current economic shifts may impact sugar taxes and trade.

Sugar Beets and Napoleon

• Napoleon played a key role in promoting sugar beet production in Europe.
• During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain blockaded Europe, causing sugar shortages.
• Napoleon fostered research into sugar beets to maintain sugar supplies.
• By 1810-1815, 79,000 acres in Europe were used for sugar beet production.
• Sugar beets offered a local source of sugar in temperate climates.

Decline of Slavery and Sugar Beet Revival

• After Napoleon's fall, commerce returned to sugarcane until the decline of slavery.
• Sugar beet production became competitive again with the end of cheap labor.
• By the 1850s, it became a major sugar source.
• Today, sugar beets are grown in temperate zones across Europe, the US, and parts of South America.

Green Revolution and Sugarcane

• The Green Revolution, which utilized Mendelian genetics to improve crops like corn and wheat, also helped increase sugarcane production. This intensified production has occurred even though the world is already addicted to sugar.

Maple Syrup

• Maple syrup is an alternative sweetener originating from Eastern North America.
• Native Americans used maple sap as a sweetener.
• Maple sap is collected from maple trees in the spring by tapping into the xylem.
• The sap contains sugar that the tree uses to grow new leaves.
• The sap is then boiled to evaporate water and concentrate the sugar into syrup (40 gallons of sap yields one gallon of syrup).
• This process is typically done in a sugar house.

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

• HFCS was developed in the 1950s due to the abundance of corn and its starch content.

• The production of HFCS involves multiple enzymatic steps to break down cornstarch into glucose and fructose.
  The process involves the following steps:

  • Start with corn kernels.
  • Treat the kernels with an enzyme, breaking them down into oligosaccharides.
  • Treat the oligosaccharides with another enzyme, breaking it down to glucose.
  • Treat with another enzyme, breaking it down to 50\% glucose and 50\% fructose.

• The end-product mimics the components of sucrose (\approx 50\% fructose and 50\% glucose).

• It is cheaper to produce but involves high levels of processing and chemicals.

• HFCS lacks the natural side products found in honey and contains chemical waste products.

Sugar Consumption Trends

• HFCS usage increased significantly starting in the 1970s but has recently declined due to health concerns.
• Increased fructose consumption is linked to diabetes.

Sugar Alternatives

• Licorice root:
  • Comes directly from a plant.
  • 30 times as sweet as table sugar.
  • Potential health benefits and risks (kidney disease, anti-cancer properties).
• Stevia:
  • From glycosides in Stevia leaves.
  • 250-300 times as sweet as sugar.
  • Widely used in Asia, becoming more common in the USA.
  • Has a strong aftertaste.
• Miraculin:
  • From miracle fruit.
  • Banned in the USA by the FDA due to being untested: gives a strong sweet taste.
  • Works by altering brain receptors to perceive sweetness.

Wrap Up on Sugar

• Sugar was used in Asian cultures before Western cultures.
• Current sugar consumption far exceeds necessary levels.
• European discovery changed food habits, with sugar added to many foods.
• Sugar and spice trades led to trade wars, slavery, and the discovery of the Americas.
• International conglomerates originated from the spice trade.
• Sugar is widespread in Western countries but has only recently become so.

Alcoholic Beverages

• Ethanol, the alcohol in beverages, is formed from a fungus (yeast) and a plant.
• Yeast consumes sugars, typically from grains, and produces alcohol as a waste product.

Fermentation Process

• The plant product, sugar, is the input for all alcohol.
• Yeast degrades sugars in anaerobic conditions, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide.
• This process uses only a fraction of the energy available in the sugars.

Types of Alcohol

• Chemists define alcohol as an organic compound with a hydroxyl group (-OH).
• Beverage alcohol is ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH).
• Other alcohols, such as methyl alcohol (methanol) and isopropyl alcohol, are poisonous.