The Sugar Mill: Origins and Evolution

The Sugar Mill: Origins and Evolution

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                    Introduction

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is a perennial grass of the family Poaceae. It is primarily cultivated for its juice, from which alcohol (through fermentation and distillation) and sugar (through dehydration and refining) can be obtained. Most of the world’s sugarcane is grown in subtropical and tropical areas.

It is commonly accepted today that sugarcane originated in Papua, New Guinea, where it was initially domesticated. The plant was then taken to other lands by traders, where its sweet virtues quickly made it a sought-after commodity.

It is also commonly accepted that around 10,000 years ago, the original inhabitants of Papua did not have tools to process the cane, meaning that they likely chewed it raw to extract the juice, which was consumed as- is (Noël Deerr, The History of Sugar: Volume One).

Not much written history exists that documents the early extraction of the juice for the purpose of dehydration and formation of sugar crystals until the publication of De Materia Medica, a pharmacopoeia of medicinal plants and the medicines that can be obtained from them, which was written between the years 50 and 70 of the current era by Pedanius Dioscorides, a greek physician in the roman army. This is the oldest record documenting the existence of crystalized sugar, which was used at the time to “treat indigestion and stomach ailments.”

How did people manage to extract the dissolved sugar from the juice? The answers to this question are at the core of this series. so join us, as we explore this fascinating topic!

Part 1: The Mortar and Pestle Mill

Mortar and Pestles are described in the oldest preserved piece of medical literature discovered, the Ebers Papyrus from Ancient Egypt - dating back to 1,550BC. It is estimated that mortar and pestles had already been used for around 6,000 years before this papyrus was written, mostly for the grinding of spices and, thanks to their efficiency and practicality, their design has largely remained unchanged over the last 10,000 years.

Chemists and pharmacists have traditionally used small porcelain sets for trituration (the process of grinding chemical compounds). In parts of the Middle East, meat is pounded into kibbeh in mortars two or three feet wide. The Chalon and Mutsun people in California’s Salinas Valley ground up acorns and grains by carving shallow depressions into bedrock. In Papua New Guinea, pestles are often carved into elaborate birds’ heads; the Taino, an indigenous tribe in the Caribbean, used small figures endowed with enormous phalli. Still, the essential elements of design remain the same: a bowl and a club, used to crush and grind.

It should be no surprise then, to know that one of the earliest approaches to extracting the juice from the sugarcane, was based on the mortar and pestle. It is known, you guessed it, as the Mortar and Pestle Mill.

The following is a description from the book Journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, written by Francis Buchanan, M.D. in 1807. The description accompanies the illustration shown below.

The sugar mill consists of a mortar, beam, lever, pestle, and regulator. The mortar (aa) is a tree, about ten feet in length, and fourteen inches in diameter. It is sunk perpendicularly into the earth, leaving one end two feet above the surface. The hollow (bb) is conical, truncated downwards, and then becomes cylindrical (c), with a hemispherical projection (d) in its bottom, in order to allow the juice to run freely to the small opening (e), that conveys it to a spout (f), from which it falls into an earthen pot. round the upper mouth of the cone is a circular cavity (gg), which collects any of the juice that may run over the upper ends of the pieces of canel and from thence a canal (hh) conveys this juice down the outside of the mortar to the spout (f).

The beam (iii) is about sixteen feet in length, and six inches in thickness, and is cut from a large tree that is divided by a fork into two arms. In the fork an excavation is made from the mortar, round which the beam turns horizontally. The surface of this excavation is secured by a semicircle of strong wood. The end towards the forks is quite open, for changing the beam without trouble. On the undivided end of the beam sits the bullock-driver (k), whose cattle are yoked by a rope (l), which comes from the end of the beaml and they are prevented from dragging out of the circle by another rope (m), which passes from the yoke to the forked end of the beam. On the arms a basket (n) is placed to hold the cuttings of cane; and between this and the mortar sits the man (o) who feeds the mill. Just as the pestle comes round, he places the pieces of cane sloping down the cavity of the mortarl and, after the pestle has passed, he removes those which have been squeezed.

As you can see, this is a very detailed description of technology used over 200 years ago for the extraction of sugarcane juice.

                                          Sugar Mill Spotlight

Abandoned sugar mill located on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. It was operated by the Grove Farm Company until 1996.

Join us again next month, as we continue to explore this fascinating topic!