Description

Sugar is the generalised name for a class of sweet-flavored substances used as food. They are carbohydrates and as this name implies, are composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are calledmonosaccharides and include glucose, fructose and galactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, adisaccharide. Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose.        Sugars are found in the tissues of most plants but are only present in sufficient concentrations for efficient extraction in sugarcane and sugar beet. Sugarcane is a giant grass and has been cultivated in tropical climates in the Far East since ancient times.