Description | A nonreducing disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose linked via their anomeric carbons. It is obtained commercially from sugarcane, sugar beet (beta vulgaris), and other plants and used extensively as a food and a sweetener. Derivation: By crushing and extraction of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) with water or extraction of the sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) with water, evaporating, and purifying with lime, carbon, and various liquids. Also obtainable from sorghum by conventional methods. Occurs in low percentages in honey and maple sap. Grade: Reagent, USP, technical, refined. Hazard: TLV: 10 mg/m3; not classifiable as a human carcinogen. Use: Sweetener in foods and soft drinks, manufacture of syrups, source of invert sugar, confectionery, preserves and jams, demulcent, pharmaceutical products, caramel, chemical intermediate for detergents, emulsifying agents, and other sucrose derivatives. (Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary) Biological Source: Widespread in seeds, leaves, fruits, flowers and roots of plants, where it functions as an energy store for metabolism and as a carbon source for biosynthesis Annual world production is in excess of 90 * 106 tons mainly from the juice of sugar cane and sugar beet which contain respectively ca. 20% and ca. 17% of the sugar Use/Importance: Sweetening agent and food source assimilated by most organisms. Also used in food products as a preservative, antioxidant, moisture control agent, stabilizer and thickening agent. Reference material used in elemental microanalysis (ChemNetBase) |
Chemical_IUPAC_Name | (2R,3R,4S,5S,6R)-2-[(2S,3S,4S,5R)-3,4-dihydroxy-2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)oxolan-2-yl]oxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxane-3,4,5-triol |