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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