corner ring, predominates in cold, somewhat
acid solutions; in warm or hot conditions, this
shape shifts to less sweet five-corner rings.
The apparent sweetness of fructose is cut
nearly in half at 140ºF/60ºC. Neither glucose
nor sucrose changes so drastically. Fructose is
thus a useful substitute for table sugar in cold
drinks, where it can provide the same
sweetness with half the concentration and a
calorie savings approaching 50%. In hot
coffee, however, its sweetness drops to the
level of table sugar.
Sucrose Sucrose is the scientific name for
table sugar. It is a composite molecule made
of one molecule each of glucose and fructose.
Green plants produce sucrose in the process of
photosynthesis, and we extract it from the
stalks of sugar cane and the storage stems of
sugar beets. Of all the common sugars, it has
the most useful combination of properties. It
is the second sweetest, after fructose, but is