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维基百科是这样总结蔗糖的历史的:
Wikipedia summarizes the history of cane sugar thusly:

维基百科，检索和注释于2008年11月11日:
Wikipedia retrieved and paraphrased 11/11/2008:

就像我说的:原先，生活在甘蔗原产地印度和新几内亚的人们，都是直接咀嚼甘蔗来吸取里面的糖分[奥拉向西内演示过如何品尝丝兰茎，它的方式也是一样的]。公元350年左右，非洲的印第安人发现了如何使糖结晶。阿拉伯企业家后来采用了印第安人的制糖技术，然后建立了第一批大型糖厂、精炼厂、工厂和种植园，依靠非洲奴隶劳动。1390年代，发展出了一种更好的压榨机，从甘蔗中榨汁量翻了一番。这使得甘蔗种植园经济进一步扩张，15世纪20年代一直延申到加那利群岛那些很遥远的地方。
It’s like I said: Originally, people living where sugar cane was native, India and New Guinea, chewed the cane raw to extract its sweetness [the same way Aura showed Sine how to taste the yucca stems.] Around AD 350, Indians of Africa discovered how to crystallize sugar. Arab entrepreneurs later adopted the Indian techniques of sugar production and then set up the first large scale sugar mills, refineries, factories and plantations relying on African slave labor. The 1390s saw the development of a better press, which doubled the juice obtained from the cane. This permitted economic expansion of sugar plantations to places as far removed as the Canary Islands in the 1420s.

因为是卡韦萨·德·瓦卡的父亲征服了西班牙附近的加那利群岛，很容易看出西班牙对甘蔗种植的涉足是近代的事了，所以哥伦布把甘蔗带到新大陆是迅速扩张过程的又一步。甘蔗在食糖市场占有主导地位，是当时(征服者)军事/工业(种植园奴隶/糖厂)的综合产物。事实上，所有的植物都会产生糖。现在已经发展出从甜菜和玉米中提取糖分的方法。
Since it was Cabeza de Vaca’s father who conquered the Canary Islands near Spain, it’s easy to see that Spanish involvement in growing sugar cane was a very recent development, so that Columbus taking it to the New World was one more step in a very rapid expansion. Sugar cane’s domination of the sugar market is a product of the (Conquistador) military/industrial (plantation slave labor/sugar mill) complex of the day. The fact is, all plants produce sugar. In modern times, processes have been developed to extract it from beets and corn.

奥拉AURA

这并不是说美洲印第安人在哥伦布和科尔特斯之前从来没有吃过甜食。我曾经读到过，阿兹特克国王蒙特祖玛喝的可可是由古柯叶、香草和龙舌兰蜂蜜制成的，这些原料直到1492年才在美洲以外地区发现。
That’s not to say the American Indian never had sweets before Columbus and Cortes. One thing I read said the Aztec king Montezuma drank cocoa made of coca, vanilla, and agave honey, all ingredients not found outside of the Americas until after 1492.

卡卡哇巧克力，检索于2008年11月11日：
KakawaChocolates retrieved 11 11 2008:

蜂蜜和龙舌兰花蜜很有价值并在中美洲广泛交易。巧克力中加入的蜂蜜或龙舌兰花蜜很少，只够制成苦中带甜的饮料。这可能是因为这两种甜味剂都很值钱。
Honey and agave nectar were highly valued and traded extensively throughout Mesoamerica. The amount of honey or agave nectar put into chocolate was minimal, only enough to make a bittersweet drink. This was probably due to the fact that both sweeteners were highly valued.

其它地方的美国土著有枫叶糖浆、蜂蜜，以及其它美洲本土植物，如甜菊糖，一种与莴苣同科的小灌木。
American natives elsewhere had maple syrup, honey, as well as other plants native to the Americas such as Stevia rebaudiana, a small shrub in the same family as lettuce.

检索猫，检索和注释于2008年11月11日：
Querycat retrieved and paraphrased 11 11 2008:

现在被称为巴拉圭和巴西的当地居民过去使用甜菊糖，这一点值得我们想想，因为它比糖甜十倍，而且可以在加拿大这样的寒冷气候下种植。
Natives of the area now known as Paraguay and Brazil used Stevia, but it’s worth considering today because it’s ten times sweeter than sugar and can be grown in climates as cold as Canada.

想要了解更多关于这些其它糖类来源的种植和加工，请参阅本文中的链接。事实上，它们比我们习惯吃的糖更健康一些。
For more on the cultivation and processing of these other sources of sugar that are, as it happens, healthier for us than the sugar we’re accustomed to, see the links in this note’s text.