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5.2: Sugar

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    Glucose, fructose, and galactose are the most common single sugars in food. All three are made up of the same number and kind of atoms—C6(H2O)6—but the atoms are arranged differently (Figure 5.1). Glucose is the most common sugar and is part of the double sugars sucrose, lactose, and maltose and is the repetitive unit in starch, glycogen (“animal starch”), and the fiber cellulose (Figure 5.1).

    Fructose, found in foods like honey and fruit, is sweeter than glucose (Table 6-1). Galactose is found mainly as a part of the “milk sugar” lactose (a double sugar) and isn’t very sweet. High-fructose corn syrup (see Chap. 6) is a half-and-half mix of the single sugars glucose and fructose.

    The most common double sugars (2 single sugars linked together) are sucrose, lactose, and maltose. Sucrose (glucose+fructose) is the sugar in the sugar bowl (table sugar). Lactose (glucose+galactose) is the sugar in milk and is the only carbohydrate of animal origin that we eat in significant (though small) amounts. Maltose (glucose+glucose) is a breakdown product of starch and is the “malt” in malted milk and in the malted barley used to make beer.

    Screen Shot 2022-06-28 at 10.02.31 AM.png
    Figure 5.1: Common Carbohydrates in Our Food

    This page titled 5.2: Sugar is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Judi S. Morrill via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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