My Favorite Organic Molecule is...Sugar!
My favorite organic molecule just happens to be Sucrose, formally known as Table Sugar. Now, the real question is who doesn't love sugar? Everything we eat today, has some amount of sugar contained within it. Most of us eat sugar more than others. We all have our stash or sugary snacks hidden so no one else will find them. We all love our desserts and candy!
Sucrose is contained of two simple sugars. As seen in the picture to the left, you can see two molecules combined by the oxygen that brings the two compounds together. One of these compounds is Glucose and the other is Fructose. These monosaccharides are what make up the disaccharide we all know and love.
Even though sugar is something that we all love, it can cause many health concerns if eaten too much. A diet that is high in sugar can cause diabetes, a disease in which the pancreas can not produce enough insulin to metabolize and break down the sugar in our bodies. Too much sugar can also cause obesity and tooth decay.
Production of sugar:
http://www.sugarnutrition.org.uk/the-production-of-sugar.aspx
Health effects:
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Sugar
Picture done with ChemDraw
That is a good question! who doesn't love sugar!? haha. But I found your post interesting to read through. Especially when you talked about how it is extracted from the plant and made into the solid crystalline structure.
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was very informative about the way that sugar is produced and what two types of plants it comes from. I knew about the sugarcane plants, but I had never heard about the sugar beets. Also, I thought it was interesting that you put in both sides of the coin with the health risk and the fact that all the foods we eat are some how filled with sugar.
ReplyDelete