Sucrose is by far the most widespread, frequently the most abundant,
sugar present in the sap of plants, and has been isolated, often in crude
crystalline form, from the richer saps since the dawn of history.’P2 Sugar
cane has been a major commercial source for centuries, but the rise of the
sugar beet industry to a comparable status commenced in 1797, when
Achard announced that sugar could be extracted from beets on a
commercial scale.* For many decades cane sugar and, more recently,
beet sugar have been the outstanding examples of a very cheap, highly
crystalline, organic compound produced in a state of unexcelled purity
on a scale of tens of millions of tons a year.