sucrose

sucrose (s`krōs), commonest of the sugars, a white, crystalline solid disaccharide (see carbohydrate) with a sweet taste, melting and decomposing at 186°C; to form caramel. It is known commonly as cane sugar, beet sugar, or maple sugar, depending upon its natural source. It has the same empirical formula (C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁) as lactose and maltose but differs from both in structure (see isomer). Hydrolysis of sucrose yields D-glucose and D-fructose; the process is called inversion and the sugar mixture produced is known as invert sugar because, although sucrose itself rotates plane-polarized light to the right, the mixture "inverts" this light by rotating it to the left. Sucrose is obtained from the "juice" of sugarcane or the sugar beet and from the sap of the sugar maple. The cane or beets are crushed, and the juice, after treatment with lime to neutralize acids, is evaporated in vacuum pans that permit the process to be carried out at relatively low temperatures. The brownish liquid obtained, called molasses, evaporates further, leaving the sugar, brownish in color, which is dissolved in water, treated with animal charcoal to remove the color resulting from the presence of impurities, and recrystallized.

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sucrose

 or table sugar

Organic compound, colourless, sweet-tasting crystals that dissolve in water. Sucrose (C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁) is a disaccharide; hydrolysis, by the enzyme invertase, yields “invert sugar” (so called because the hydrolysis results in an inversion of the rotation of plane polarized light), a 50:50 mixture of fructose and glucose, its two constituent monosaccharides. Sucrose occurs naturally in sugarcane, sugar beets, sugar-maple sap, dates, and honey. It is produced commercially in large amounts (especially from sugarcane and sugar beets) and is used almost entirely as food. See also sugar.