By. Jie Yu

Professor Maryam Alikhani

Writing for Engineering

The City College of New York

Nov 28, 2018

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Table of Contents

Technical Poem…………………………………………………………………………3

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..4

III. Description of Categories……………………………………………………..…..5

III.1 Glucose & Maltose…………  ……………………………………………………5

III.2 Fructose & Sucrose…………………………………………………..…………..6

III.3 Galactose & Lactose……………………………..………………………………..6

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………..7

References……………………………………………………………………………….8

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Technical Poem

I’m probably the luckiest cube,

Being hated by those who

Attempt to lose weight

And being loved by the rest of the world

One spoon of me makes your coffee sweet

Enough of me honey your days

When your life goes down,

Just come to me and say,

Sugar, please.

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Introduction

Many people eat sugar every day, and sugar is added to most of our daily foods, like pies, doughnuts, soft drinks. Nowadays, people have developed the idea that eating too much sugar will result in diabetes and obesities. However, what is sugar? Is it sucrose? Not exactly. According to the article “What is Sugar?”, by the Sugar Association, a modern scientific association that focuses on exploring and spreading knowledge about sugar, “All green plants make sugar through photosynthesis, the process plants use to transform the sun’s energy into food”. It means that almost all the plants and fruits we eat contain sugar. What’s more, among all the plants, sugar beet and sugar cane contain the greatest amount of sugar, which is the reason they become the common choices of sugar extraction. The sugar that is extracted from sugar beet or sugar cane is called sucrose or also known as table sugar – the most commonly used sugar for cooking.

In fact, sucrose is only one of the many forms of sugars we have for today, and all the sugars have similar components but different forms. According to “What is Sugar?”,  there are three major components that make up all forms of sugars, which are also known as monosaccharides. Monosaccharides are the form of all other sugars, and sugars can’t be absorbed directly before they are turned into monosaccharides by our body. Besides, they can bond with each other and themselves to make more complex sugars like disaccharides, which are sugars consist of two units of monosaccharides . An example of  disaccharide is sucrose, which is made up of one unit of fructose and glucose. In general, all sugars can be broken down to these three simple monosaccharides: glucose, fructose, and galactose. In the next part, we will introduce the source of three monosaccharides and their common complex sugars – disaccharide.

 

III. Description of Categories

1. Glucose & Maltose (C₆H₁₂O₆)

Glucose is the most widely distributed and most important monosaccharide in nature. It is the main energy source for our body’s cells. In fact, glucose is found in almost all plants that can be eaten, and plants can produce glucose through photosynthesis. What’s more, glucose is the form of the presence of most kinds of sugars that are broken down by the body, which ultimately supplies the body with energy. A disaccharide that consists of two units of glucose is called maltose(C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁). According to Wikipedia, “maltose is formed during the germination of certain grains, the most notable being barley, which is converted into malt, the source of the sugar’s name.”(Sugar, 2018). Maltose exists commonly in our daily life, “foods like cereals, certain fruits and sweet potatoes contain naturally high amounts of this sugar”(Thorpe,2017). In addition, because maltose contains no fructose and is less sweeter, it might be a good choice of substitute for cooking.

2. Fructose & Sucrose (C₆H₁₂O₆)

Fructose is a monosaccharide and an isomer to glucose, which means that they have same molecular weight but different structure. According to Wikipedia, fructose is known as “fruit sugar”, and it is mainly found in fruits, honey, and root vegetables like sugar beet and corn. What’s more, fructose can also combine with glucose to form the disaccharide – sucrose(C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁) or also called table sugar, which is commonly used in cooking and sweetening. Furthermore, fructose is the sweetest in all three monosaccharides, and eating too much sugars that are high in fructose “may have negative health effects such as obesity, fatty liver disease and high cholesterol”(Groves, 2018). Most of the added sugars contain a notable amount of fructose, such as table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. It might be important for people to control the amount of sugars intake from various foods.

3. Galactose & Lactose(C₆H₁₂O₆)

Galactose is also one of the three common monosaccharides. According to Wikipedia,  galactose “generally does not occur in the free state”(Sugar, 2018). Instead, it exists as lactose(C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁), a disaccharide consists of galactose and glucose. What’s more, galactose “is essential in the production of galactolipids, which helps to support the development of a healthy brain and nerve tissues”(Goh, 2013).  Lactose is also known as milk sugar, and it can be found in most of dairy products such as milk, ​cheese, and yogurt. So, basically, “You can suspect that a food has lactose if it says, “may contain milk.”(Adams, 2018). Beside,  lactose is “the primary carbohydrate found in breastmilk”(Goh, 2013), which is one of the major reason that milk is so important for growing baby’s diary.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are so many kinds of sugars being added to our foods, drinks, and exquisite desserts. Despite the fact that excessive intake of sugars may cause obesity, diabetes and other health-related problems, many people can’t resist themselves from sweetmeats because we all have a sweet tooth. However, since more and more people are aware of the harms of eating excessive sugar, food industries begin to offer low-sugar or sugar-free products that without loss of sweet taste. For example, low-sugar donuts and diet Pepsi. Instead of traditional sugars, “sugar-free products are sweetened with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, cyclamate, saccharin, acesulfame-k or sucralose instead of sugar”(Mandl, 2018). Although artificial sweetener seems to be a solution to excessive sugars in sweet foods, more studies should be done to test and verify that whether it is good for people to eat too much artificial sweeteners. All in all, everyone dreams that there will be a sugar that can fulfill our sweet tooth while not having side effects on our body health.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Adams, A. (2018, July 04). Learn Where Lactose Lurks. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-lactose-1000969

Goh, J. (2013, July 17). 5 things you didn’t know about lactose. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://sg.theasianparent.com/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-lactose/

Groves, M. (2018, June 8). Sucrose vs Glucose vs Fructose: What’s the Difference? Retrieved November 28, 2018, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sucrose-glucose-fructose

Mandl, E. (2018, May 1). Diet Soda: Good or Bad? Retrieved November 12, 2018, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/diet-soda-good-or-bad

Sugar. (2018, November 10). Retrieved November 12, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar

Thorpe,M. (2017, September 16). Maltose: Good or Bad? Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/maltose#section5

What is Sugar? (n.d.). Retrieved November 12, 2018, from https://www.sugar.org/sugar/what-is-sugar/