The principle of sugar production is very simple, and it is mainly divided into two major processes: pressing and boiling.
Pressing: The juice from the raw material is obtained, followed by the removal of impurities to obtain a higher purity juice.
Boiling: A small amount of lime is added and boiled at high temperatures, during which continuous stirring is carried out, crystallization is obtained by evaporation and concentration, and finally sugar is obtained through equipment.
What we eat every day is sucrose, that is, sugar made from sugar cane, which raises the question, why do humans eat sugar?
For example, the engine, tires, steering wheel, etc. of a car are intact, but the only lack of gasoline is that the car cannot drive, in the same way, the human body needs to consume sugar to obtain energy, so sugar in the war years, belongs to high-level strategic materials, even if it is lacking, it has to ensure the daily needs of front-line soldiers.
To get back to the point, if humans need sugar, why don't we use watermelon to make sugar?
In 2022, China's watermelon output will be as high as 63.24 million tons, firmly occupying the first place in the world, and the total watermelon output of all the 2nd~10th melon-producing countries is only 1/3 of China's watermelon production.
Therefore, we use watermelon to make sugar, there is an innate advantage, but the fact is that sugarcane has always been the first choice for sugar production, why is this? The main reasons are as follows:
1. Sugarcane sugar production has a long history and has long formed a Xi
Sugarcane was called "Zhe" in the pre-Qin period, and during the Warring States Period, there were already records of sugarcane processing, for example, Qu Yuan wrote in "Chu Ci Soul Conjuring": "There is some syrup in the turtle cannon lamb", where "Zhe pulp" is "sugarcane juice".
Chinese civilization has a long history, since the ancient method of using sugarcane to make sugar has been mastered, we will naturally give priority to sugarcane, which is a preconceived thinking concept, just like you lack a meal partner, the first thing that comes to mind must be relatives and friends, not strangers.
Watermelons were rarely cultivated in ancient times, and the quality was not good, and a few good watermelons were only eaten by princes and nobles, and there were not many records in ancient history.
2. The yield of sugarcane is high, and the yield of watermelon is very low in other countries except in China
There are at least more than 80 countries in the world that grow sugarcane, with a total planting area of more than 26 million hectares and a total output of about 18~1.9 billion tons, which is the largest cash crop in the world.
China, India, Brazil and Thailand have an annual output of more than 100 million tons of sugarcane, and the United States, Pakistan, Mexico and other sugarcane production is between 10 million ~ 100 million tons.
Let's look at watermelon, we have the most feelings, every summer can achieve "watermelon freedom", eat to the point of not eating, according to relevant statistics, China eats 16 billion watermelons every year.
Chinese watermelon not only tastes good, the quantity is large, the key is not expensive, the normal size of watermelon in the peak season, about 15 yuan can be bought home, but do you know, watermelon in the 20th century before the 80s are rare.
In order to solve the problem of watermelon, Academician Wu Mingzhu went to the west to devote himself to the cause of melon breeding, and with the efforts of day and night, Academician Wu Mingzhu successfully cultivated more than 30 high-quality melon varieties including "8424".
It is also with so many high-quality melon seeds, China's watermelon production can soar all the way, not only the taste of watermelon is fresh and sweet, even the price is very cheap, and then look at Japan, watermelon is sold in slices, converted into about 10~15 yuan, the price of the whole watermelon is about 60~100 yuan.
If watermelon is used to make sugar, I am afraid that the vast majority of countries in the world except China will fall into the problem of sugar shortage, don't think this is a good thing, if sugar is controlled by a few countries, it is easy to cause war, because this is a daily necessary resource, beef and mutton can be eaten less, but sugar can not be less, World War I, World War II there are many small-scale battles for sugar.
3. Sugarcane has high sugar content and is easy to mechanize, while watermelon has low sugar content and is not easy to mechanize
It is precisely because human beings need a lot of sugar, so when selecting sugar, we need to consider the comprehensive cost, if the cost is high, the purchase cost of the people will be high, and everyone will be affected.
The sugar content of sugarcane is as high as 18%~20%, while the sugar content of watermelon is only about 5%~8%, the difference between the two is about 3 times, 90% of watermelon is water, which means that if you use watermelon to make sugar, you need to use more energy to remove the water in watermelon juice, and the cost is much higher than that of sugarcane.
Secondly, sugarcane is easy to grow, suitable for large-scale cultivation, and can be mechanized when harvesting, and when transporting, bundles of sugarcane can easily save space.
On the other hand, watermelon, too ripe is not good, too raw is not good, picking by manpower, some ripe watermelon, a little touch will be broken, if you have to use mechanical picking, "bang bang bang" is estimated to be the sound of watermelon breaking, if manual picking, Europe and the United States an hour of labor about 18 US dollars, you can imagine how expensive the labor cost is, even if our labor cost is not high, but it is much higher than the cost of picking sugarcane.
Then the transportation of watermelon, it is not possible to encounter bumpy roads, and watermelons are round or oval, stacked together in the middle of a lot of waste space, the same transportation of 1 ton of watermelon and sugarcane, the former requires a large space, which is also a major factor affecting the cost.
No matter from the perspective of sugar content, easy mechanized operation, output, etc., making sugar from sugarcane is definitely more cost-effective than making sugar from watermelon.