Saccharum officinarum (sugar cane)

Saccharum officinarum (Image: RBG Kew)

Sugar cane is a tall grass, which looks rather like a bamboo cane, and grows 3-6 m high with culms (stems) 20-45 mm in diameter. The thicker-stemmed forms are commonly known as 'thick' or 'noble' canes because of their tall, handsome, colourful stems. The broad leaves are 70-150 cm long, grow alternately from the stem, and have a base which encircles it.

Saccharum officinarum can be recognised by its hairless or short-haired panicle axis, and leaf-blades up to 6 cm wide. The fruit is an oblong caryopsis (small, dry, one-seeded fruit), 1.5 mm in length.

Harvesting the Sugar-Cane in Minas Geraes, Brazil, painting by Marianne North (Image: RBG Kew)

Sugar cane was originally grown in southeastern Asia and the Pacific for the sole purpose of chewing. The rind was removed and the internal tissues sucked or chewed. The production of sugar by boiling cane juice first took place in India, most likely during the first millennium BC.

Sugar is now a highly valued food and sweetener and also serves as an edible preservative. Raw and refined sugars are produced by heating, removing impurities and crystallising sugar cane juice, which mainly consists of sucrose. Raw and refined sugars are exported all over the world for use in sweet and savoury dishes, processed foods and drinks and for preserving fruits and meat. They are also compressed into sugar cubes and made into syrup. White sugar can be further processed (ground into a fine powder) into icing sugar, which is used in desserts, baking and confectionery. In India, the young shoots of sugar cane are sometimes steamed and roasted as a vegetable.

Sugar cane has also been used medicinally. In southern Asia it has been used to treat a wide variety of health complaints from constipation to coughs, and has been used externally to treat skin problems. Both the roots and stems are used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat skin and urinary tract infections, as well as for bronchitis, heart conditions, loss of milk production, cough, anaemia, and constipation. Some texts advise its use for jaundice and low blood pressure. Sugar paste has been widely used to pack wounds and aid healing.