Sugar

MFA Acc. #: 2006.217

Description

A photosynthesis product in plants. Sugar is an important source of metabolic energy in foods and its formation in plants is an essential factor in the life process. A sugar is a small carbohydrate composed of one, two, or more saccharose groups. The chief monosaccharides are glucose (dextrose) and fructose (levulose). Some primary disaccharides are sucrose (from cane or beet sugar); lactose (from milk); maltose (from starch); and cellobiose (from cellulose). Table sugar is primarily composed of sucrose.

Stalks of sugarcane

Synonyms and Related Terms

sucre (Fr.); sucrose; cane sugar; beet sugar

FTIR

Other Properties

Soluble in water. Hygroscopic.

Density	1.59

Additional Information

V.Daniels, G.Lohneis, "Deterioration of Sugar Artifacts" Studies in Conservation 42:17-26, 1997.

Additional Images

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  Cane Sugar

Sources Checked for Data in Record

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 777

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000

• CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, Robert Weast (ed.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, v. 61, 1980