ABSTRACT
Carbohydrates are common constituents of foods, both as inherent natural components and as added ingredients. Most natural carbohydrate is in the form of oligomers or polymers comprised of simple and modified sugars, with low-molecular-weight carbohydrates most often produced by depolymerization of natural polymers. Monosaccharides are the most basic carbohydrate molecules that cannot be broken down to simpler carbohydrate molecules by hydrolysis and are sometimes referred to as simple sugars. Caramel products are produced commercially as both coloring and flavoring ingredients. Six-membered sugar rings are quite stable if bulky groups such as hydroxyl groups and the hydroxymethyl group are in equatorial positions. Thus, β-d-glucopyranose dissolves in water to give a rapidly equilibrating mixture containing the open-chain form and its five-, six-, and seven- membered ring forms. A simple and specific method for quantitative oxidation of d-glucose to d-gluconic acid uses the enzyme glucose oxidase, the initial product being the 1,5-lactone of the acid.
