Saccharum officinarum (Florida)

Sugarcane, chewing cane, noble cane

My friend Nemi from yoga offered to let me try some Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree) fruit.

We stopped on our way out of town on our way to a festival. The fruit is possibly one of the most delicious I have ever tasted – like almond-flavored cotton candy!

As an added bonus she also gave me a stalk of sugar cane.

BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

Tropical, perennial, rhizomatic grass of the family Poaceae whose stalks reach 6–20 feet tall.

The stout, fibrous stalks range in color, from green to pinkish or purple, and are segmented. Jointed nodes occur at bases of the alternate leaves and sucrose naturally produced by the plant accumulates in the stalk internodes.

The long, sword-shaped, green leaves are typically 12-24 inches long, 2 inches wide, and have saw-toothed edges.

When the cane becomes mature, a plume-like inflorescence of tiny pink flowers develops.

HISTORY

Sugarcane is an ancient crop.

Saccharum officinarum was first domesticated in New Guinea 8000 years ago.
During the Neolithic period, it traveled to Polynesia and Madagascar via Austronesian sailors.
The Austronesian also introduced a related species, Saccharum sinense, to Taiwan, southern China, and India around 12^th – 10^th BCE.
Between the 6^th and 4^th centuries BCE, Persians and Greeks wrote of the “reeds that produce honey without bees” from India.
The earliest evidence of extracting and processing of sugarcane juice is found in 1^stcentury CE Sanskrit and Pali texts from northern India.
Around the 8^th century, sugarcane traveled from India with Muslim and Arab traders. It reached Mesopotamia, Egypt, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and Spain.
By the 10^th century, sugarcane was a common crop across Mesopotamia.
It was one of the early crops brought to the Americas by the Spanish and the Portuguese in the 15^th century.

Currently, 70% of the world’s sugar is produced from sugarcane. The remainder comes from sugar beets.

HERBAL AND TRADITIONAL USES

Sugarcane juice is comprised of 70 – 75% water, 13 – 15% sucrose, and 10 – 15% fiber.

Medicinal

Sugarcane is utilized in traditional Ayurvedic and Unani medicine both internally and externally. It is has been used to:

Hydrate and cool
Provide energy and improve libido
Aid digestion and as a laxative
Prevent anemia and purify the blood
Boost immunity and prevent infections as an antiseptic
Treat jaundice
As a diuretic
Relieve inflammation or irritation as a demulcent

Sugarcane leaf and juice is rich in phytochemicals including phenolic compounds which have been shown to have antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antihistamine, and cholesterol-lowering properties. It also contains numerous amino-acids and minerals like calcium, potassium, magnesium, manganese, and iron.

Culinary

Besides chewing raw sugarcane, the juice can be extracted by hand or with small mills. You can make a refreshing beverage from the fresh juice by adding lemon, lime, pineapple, passionfruit, or ginger. Serve it over ice.

Sweeteners made from the juice include cane sugar syrup and molasses. In addition, a variety of crystalline sugars are produced:

Refined white sugar common in North America and Europe
Brown sugars (white sugar with molasses added back in)
Unrefined sugars that retain their natural minerals and molasses:
- Demerara
- Muscovado
- Turbinado
- Sucanat
- Jaggery (Southeast Asia & Africa)
- Piloncillo (Mexico), also known as panela (Colombia & Venezuela) or rapadura (Brazil & Cuba)

Alcoholic beverages distilled from sugarcane include rum, cachaça (Brazil), aguardiente (Costa Rica) and Mekhong (Thailand). Other alcoholic beverages made from sugarcane include:

Basi: a sugarcane wine from Philippines and Guyana
Falernum: a Caribbean liqueur or non-alcoholic syrup used in tropical cocktails
Viche: a homebrewed Colombian alcoholic beverage traditionally used as a ceremonial intoxicant, an aphrodisiac and as medicine to purge stomach bugs and parasites

Other

The dry, pulpy, fibrous by-product of the processing is known as bagasse and is used for:

Biofuel (ethanol) production
Fuel
Production of paper products
Agricultural mulch

Magick

Sugar is used in spellwork for its ability to attract. Where salt repels, sugar entices.

Sugar has the power to bring sweetness, love, prosperity, luck, and positive energies to your life.

Folk names include “sweet salt” and “love dust.”

Sugar and sugary treats like chocolate are also often offerings to deities and ancestors.

RECIPE

Since Joe and I were at a festival for several days, the sugarcane went unattended in the camper until we returned home. At that point it seemed too dehydrated to chew but I was determined not to waste it.

I had committed to make something for a silent auction at a gathering celebrating Samhain. I decided that it would be an excellent ingredient in an herbal tea.

I started by cutting the cane where it segmented.

Then I cut away the hard exterior with a knife.

Cut long thin slices of the sweet interior with a vegetable peeler.

Placed the sugarcane shreds on trays in the dehydrator.

With another tray with fresh ginger and mandarin peel that was also bound for the tea.

After a a couple of days, the sugarcane was thoroughly dehydrated.

It was then pulverized in an electric coffee grinder. This would create more surface area and extract more of the natural sweetness when the tea is steeping.

The dried sugarcane, ginger and mandarin peel were combined with lemongrass from the garden and various foraged rose hips I had previously dried.

I added nourishing oat straw, anti-oxidant calendula, calming damiana, and spicy cardamom.

This tea is really good with just the right amount of sweetness! If you get a chance to work with sugar cane, I do recommend this method.

Thriving Wellness Tea Ingredients:

Lemongrass, Oat Straw, Calendula, Damiana, Dehydrated Sugar Cane, Ginger, Cardamom, Mandarin Peel, Rose Hips

References

_{Ali, S., Yuan, Q., Wang, S. & Farag, M. (2021). More than sweet: A phytochemical and pharmacological review of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.). Food Bioscience, 44(B). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbio.2021.101431}

_{Miraj, S. (2016). Pharmacological effects of Saccharum officinarum L. Der Pharmacia Lettre, 8(13), 223-225. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/143840611.pdf}

_{Moone, A. (2023, September 10). Magical properties of sugar: How to use sugar in spells. Plentifulearth. https://plentifulearth.com/magical-properties-sugar/#:~:text=Sugar%20is%20primarily%20known%20for%20its%20ability%20to,help%20one%20focus%20during%20meditation%20or%20spiritual%20work.}

_{Sing, A., Lal, U.R., Mukhtar, H.M., Singh, P.S., Shah, G. & Dhawan, R.K. (2015 Jan-Jun). Phytochemical profile of sugarcane and its potential health aspects. Pharmacognosy Review, 9(17):45-54. doi: 10.4103/0973-7847.156340. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4441162/}

_{Sugarcane. (2024, November 2). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarcane}

_{The Worldwide Vegetables. (2016, January 29). Saccharum officinarum: Sugarcane or sugar cane. H.D. Hai (Ed.). https://theworldwidevegetables.weebly.com/saccharum-officinarum-sugar-cane.html?c=mkt_w_chnl:aff_geo:all_prtnr:sas_subprtnr:1538097_camp:brand_adtype:txtlnk_ag:weebly_lptype:hp_var:358504&sscid=b1k8_8kay4&utm_source=ShareASale}

_{Yamane, T. (2024, October 26). Sugarcane. In Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/plant/sugarcane}

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