04/10/2020
Ayurvedic text has dealt with Sita/Khanda (Sugar varieties) during many centuries back Nd their medicinal qualities were explained in Ayurvedic texts.
Natural way of extracting sugars were explained Nd were used by ppl.
Love eating candy? You'd be surprised to know that the term comes from ancient Sanskrit word 'Khanda' which means "a piece of sugar".
In fact, sugar was first extracted and refined in India: the first description of a sugar mill is found in an Indian text from 100 A.D. From here, the technique spread east towards China, and west towards Persia, eventually reaching the Mediterranean in the 13th century.
Here are some interesting facts about the ancient origins of sugar:
> Greeks and Romans learnt about sugar during their visits to India. Nearchus, Alexandria's general, wrote of "a reed in India that brings forth honey without the help of bees, from which an intoxicating drink is made, though the plant bears no fruit." Small amounts were brought back to the Mediterranean and traded to physicians who used it for medical purposes.
> The ancient Indian text, 'Susrutha Samhita' lists 12 different varieties of sugar, the best of which was called Paundraka (which came from the Bengal region). Even today, Bengal produces some of the best sweets in the world!
> Sugar was called a "fine spice" in Europe. At one time in human history, as the "American Sugar Association" states,sugar was so valuable that people used to lock it up in a sugar safe!
> Every time you bite a sugarcane, or a lump of gud, you are enjoying the fruits of toil of pioneering botanist and cytogeneticist, Janaki Ammal. She is credited with putting sweetness in India’s sugarcane varieties.
