Think of sugar and you probably first picture white cane sugar, maybe in cubes or little packets to be dropped in your coffee or a bag of the powdery type for cooking. But if you pay attention to food labels, you'll find that many ingredients are basically just sugars with slightly differing chemical make-ups. The key to spotting them is to look for the "-ose" suffix, as in fructose, sucrose, etc.
Sucrose
Sucrose, derived from sugar cane and sugar beets, contains both fructose and glucose, according to Elmhurst College's Virtual Chem Book. Sucrose is plain table sugar and is most commonly used in cookies, ice cream, cakes, pies, candy and similar products.
Fructose
Fructose, also known as "fruit sugar," is derived from fruits, some vegetables and honey and has become a popular sweetener since the 1980s. It's a simple sugar and because it is sweeter than sucrose, less fructose is usually needed as an additive to achieve the same final result, according to the Fructose Information Center. This means it is often used in low-calorie foods. Fructose can have a longer shelf life than sucrose because it doesn't hydrolize in acidic conditions.
Glucose
Glucose is a critical carbohydrate in plants and animals, as it is an important part of photosynthesis and cellular health in animals. Sometimes known as "blood sugar," glucose is found in the bloodstream and at abnormal levels can indicate medical problems such as diabetes. As a commercial sweetener, glucose is formed by hydrolizing starches such as corn, wheat and rice.
Lactose
Lactose is a sugar found most commonly in milk. It has gotten considerable attention through the years because of a condition known as lactose intolerance, which is the body's inability to produce the enzymes needed to break down lactose for absorption in the body. Lactose can be consumed in its pure form to help people who need to gain weight for health reasons.
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