Sugar (granulated white)

The granules in this jar are crystals of pure sucrose. Sucrose is a carbohydrate with no odour but a sweet taste. It is a disaccharide made from two saccharides, fructose and glucose, both simple molecules created by plants to store energy. Sucrose is soluble in water and so can be extracted from plants like sugar cane or sugar beet quite easily. The refinement process involves the concentration of sucrose syrup followed by the evaporation of all the water content, causing the sucrose to solidify into small crystals. These are usually brown coloured because of a small amount of residual carbohydrate and some minerals from the plant. Extracting these creates white crystals of sugar and a dark brown liquid called molasses. Up until the 19th century, sugar used to be a luxury item.