Glucose forms the basis of life. Our body consumes sugar to generate energy that we need to function. Due to complex chemistry, it comes in many forms.
Sucrose and fructose are two forms of sugar that are present naturally and can be found in fruits. Glucose is found in complex and simple forms.
Sucrose is a complex form of glucose as it has more than one monosaccharide unit in it. Fructose on the other hand is simple glucose as it is a monosaccharide.
Key Takeaways
- Sucrose is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose molecules, while fructose is a simple monosaccharide sugar found in fruit, honey, and some vegetables.
- Sucrose is a common table sugar derived from sugar cane or sugar beet, while fructose occurs naturally in various food sources and is also used as a sweetener.
- Fructose has a higher relative sweetness than sucrose, but its excessive consumption has been linked to health issues, such as obesity and insulin resistance.
Sucrose vs Fructose
Sucrose, also known as table sugar, is a disaccharide made up of glucose and fructose molecules bonded together. Fructose is a monosaccharide or simple sugar found in many fruits, veggies, and honey with a greater effect on blood sugar levels and insulin resistance compared to sucrose.
A synthesized form of fructose and glucose is called sucrose. It is a natural sugar and falls under the category of polysaccharides.
Sucrose is the sugar that we use every day in our food. This sugar form is bad for our oral health as it is the main ingredient that bacteria use to form a sticky substance and helps form plaque.
As it is a type of natural sugar it is extracted from plants for our needs. Usually, we extract it from plant sources like beetroot and sugarcane.
Fructose is a simple natural sugar that has only one component in it. Fructose can be found in plants and fall under the ketonic sugar group due to the presence of a ketone group in its base structure.
This monosaccharide is directly consumed by the body after consumption. Its excessive consumption causes obesity and also makes the body resistant to insulin among other ailments.
It also leads to a cluster of diseases collectively called metabolic syndrome.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Sucrose | Fructose |
|---|---|---|
| Saccharide type | It is a disaccharide. | It is a monosaccharide. |
| Sweetness | It is less sweet than fructose. | It is sweeter than sucrose. |
| Components | It has two components, fructose, and glucose. | It has one component, Fructose. |
| Consumption after digestion | It is not consumed directly. | It is consumed directly by the body. |
| Plaque formation | It causes plaque formation. | It doesn’t cause plaque formation. |
What is Sucrose?
Sucrose is a type of disaccharide that exists only in 𝛼 from, unlike one of the monosaccharide components in it called glucose which exists in both forms.
Sucrose is formed with two components, glucose, and fructose which are attached with each other by a glycosidic bond. Sucrose is not a reducing sugar as the glycosidic bond utilizes the hydroxyl groups.
The bond formation between the two components is unique as both the reducing ends of the monosaccharides are utilized.
Sucrose forms caramel when exposed to high temperatures which is a departure from the melting property of many compounds. It is a form of carbohydrate so the end result of its combustion is water and carbon dioxide.
Sucrose decomposes at a temperature of 367° F. Specific parts of plants such as fruits, roots, flowers contain sucrose. It is a natural sugar but can be synthesized through chemical processes as well.
Ripe fruits contain a higher amount of sucrose and during the process of ripening the sucrose content rises rapidly.
Sucrose, however, may not be present in all types of fruits and flowers. Fruits such as lime, lemon, tomatoes, etc. do not contain any sucrose.
The table sugar that we use in our homes for cooking comes mainly from two plant sources namely sugar beets and sugarcane. Other sugar crops are also available such as date palm, etc.
What is Fructose?
Fructose is also known by the name levulose and the word fructose is formed of two parts. Fructus and a suffix -ose combine together to make the word.
It means fruit sugar as the word fructus means fruit in Latin. Fructose when fermented anaerobically (in absence of air) forms drinking alcohol and carbon dioxide.
It is chemically present as a polyhydroxy ketone which takes a cyclical shape in crystalline form. In solution, it exists in an equilibrium of its cyclic forms and the open-chain form.
When it is dehydrated it gives hydroxymethylfurfural which after further processing can give dimethylfuran in liquid form.
Dimethylfuran is an alternative to the carbon fuel such as petrol we use today. As of now, this is not used at a commercial scale as the refining process is costly.
This is a commercially viable form of sugar for the beverage industry. It is relatively sweeter when compared to other carbohydrates like sucrose and can be twice as sweet as sucrose.
Its sweetness, however, depends on temperature, if the temperature increases its relative sweetness decreases. The decrease in sweetness with temperature is because the six-membered ring converts to a five-membered ring which is less sweet than the five-membered forms.
The taste of sweetness is short-lived when compared with sucrose but at the peak, it gives a strong sweet taste.
Main Differences Between Sucrose and Fructose
- Sucrose falls under the category of disaccharides as it is formed of two monosaccharides whereas, fructose is a monosaccharide.
- The sweetness of sucrose lasts for a long period when compared to the sweetness of fructose which lasts for a small moment.
- Sucrose is a non-reducing sugar as it has no reducing anomeric hydroxyl group whereas, fructose is a reducing sugar as it has a free hydroxyl group.
- Sucrose is less sweet in comparison to fructose and fructose can be twice as sweet as sucrose.
- Fructose is the form of carbohydrate that is consumed directly by the body whereas, sucrose is not consumed directly by the body.
- https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-abstract/58/5/724S/4732301
- https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1351/pac197850111409/html
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065231808602838
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=TYTnheXYWpUC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=sucrose+&ots=q0AtZvdF81&sig=c1wd9NQPJ9oYo-fxG-d8sdceP5A
Last Updated : 15 July, 2023
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
