A sucrose molecule is a disaccharide, that is, one molecule each of glucose and fructose and easily recognized because it contains the six member ring of glucose and the five member ring of fructose. Its empirical formula is C12H22O11, which is the same as lactose and maltose, but it differs in structure.
Sucrose is extracted mainly from sugar cane or sugar beets and then processed to become various sugars including the common white table sugar. Other sources of extraction include molasses, sorghum, and maple sugar.
Sugar Processing
The first stage of processing the natural sugar stored in the cane stalk or beet root is its separation from the rest of the plant material using physical methods.
For sugar cane, this is accomplished by:
- pressing the cane to extract the juice containing the sugar
- boiling the juice until it begins to thicken and sugar begins to crystallize
- spinning the sugar crystals in a centrifuge to remove the syrup, thereby producing raw sugar that still contains many impurities
- shipping the raw sugar to a refinery where it is washed and filtered to remove remaining non-sugar ingredients and color
- crystallizing, drying, and packaging
Beet sugar processing is similar, but it is done in one continuous process without the raw sugar stage. The sugar beets are washed, sliced and soaked in hot water to separate the sugar-containing juice from the beet fiber. The sugar-laden juice is purified, filtered, concentrated, and dried in a series of steps similar to cane sugar processing.
Invert sugar is so named because when sucrose is hydrolyzed, it yields glucose and fructose, a process called inversion. The sugar mixture produced is now known as invert sugar because, although sucrose rotates plane-polarized light to the right, the inverted mixture rotates this light to the left. Whatever the process, bakers love it because the end result is a smoother product much better suited for confections and fine cakes.
Although sucrose is needed for energy, people are obtaining far too much for what the body can handle. As a result, numerous health problems occur, especially heart disease, obesity, and tooth decay.
This page was updated in December 2005.
