Sugar

In general use, non-scientists take "sugar" to mean sucrose, also called "table sugar" or saccharose, a white crystalline solid disaccharide. Humans most commonly use sucrose as their sugar of choice for altering the flavor and properties (such as mouthfeel, preservation, and texture) of beverages and food.

Commercially-produced table sugar comes either from sugar cane or from sugar beet.

The "simple" sugars, or monosaccharides (such as glucose), store energy which biological cells use and consume. In a list of ingredients, any word that ends with "ose" probably denotes a sugar.

For information on the other sugars, see monosaccharide and disaccharide.

In culinary terms, sugar as a type of food delivers one of the primary taste sensations, that of sweetness.

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