Sucrose

Sucrose is a disaccharide made of glucose and fructose joined by an α(1→2) glycosidic bond. Plants produce and transport it, and it is the familiar table sugar.

Glycosidic bond: A covalent bond that joins a sugar’s anomeric carbon to another group, often another sugar. Sucrose’s α(1→2) glycosidic bond links the anomeric carbons of glucose and fructose.
Glucose: A six-carbon monosaccharide that is a major energy source and building block in living organisms. One glucose unit contributes half of sucrose’s molecular structure.
Sugar refining: The processing of sugar-rich plant juices into purified crystalline sucrose. Refining extracts and crystallizes sucrose from sugar cane or sugar beet.
Phloem: The plant vascular tissue that transports sugars and other organic nutrients. Sucrose is the principal transported sugar in the phloem of many plants.
Sucrase: An enzyme that hydrolyzes sucrose into glucose and fructose. Sucrase breaks sucrose’s glycosidic bond during digestion.
Fructose: A six-carbon monosaccharide commonly found in fruits and honey. The other half of sucrose is fructose, joined through its anomeric carbon.
Caramelization: The heat-driven breakdown and browning of sugars without requiring amino compounds. Heating sucrose can produce caramel’s color, aroma, and complex flavor.
Sugar beet: A beet cultivar grown for its sucrose-rich root. Sugar beet provides a major temperate-climate source of refined sucrose.
Invertase: An enzyme that hydrolyzes sucrose into glucose and fructose. Invertase performs the same hydrolysis in plants, microbes, and food processing.
Monosaccharide: A simple carbohydrate consisting of a single sugar unit that cannot be hydrolyzed into smaller carbohydrates. Sucrose is assembled from two monosaccharides.

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