What is sucrose made up of?

Sucrose is a type of sugar commonly known as table sugar, and it is made up of two monosaccharides: glucose and fructose. This disaccharide is formed when these two simple sugars are linked together through a glycosidic bond during a dehydration synthesis reaction. In terms of structure, glucose is an aldohexose, while fructose is a ketohexose. The combination of these two sugars results in sucrose, which is found naturally in many plants, particularly in sugar cane and sugar beets, where it is extracted for common use.

This understanding of sucrose is significant because it plays many roles in nutrition and food science, impacting sweetness, caloric content, and the metabolic pathways in the body where these simple sugars are utilized.