All these plants manufacture sugar in their leaves through the process of photosynthesis. Yet, sugarcane differs in that it does so in prodigious amounts and then stores the sugar as sweet juice in its fibrous stalks.
Visu augu lapās fotosintēzes ceļā rodas cukuri, taču cukurniedres no citiem augiem atšķiras ar to, ka tajās cukuri sintezējas milzīgā daudzumā un uzkrājas šķiedrainā stiebra saldajā sulā.