Honey vs Sugar: What Types of Sugar is in Honey?
Honey is sometimes used as a liquid sugar substitute. However, "substitute" is not quite accurate because honey gets its sweetness from sugar; in fact, several types of sugar. What we think of as sugar is a combination of carbohydrates linked together in different structures. Honey can contain up to 24 different sugars.
Sucrose
In its granulated form, sucrose is simply table sugar, the sweet white crystals you sprinkle in coffee and use in recipes. Sucrose is a disaccharide, formed when fructose and glucose, which Georgia State University defines as “simple” sugars or monosaccharides, link up 34. An oxygen atom connects the two monosaccharides, and the Exploratorium website notes that an acidic substance like lemon juice can break that bond 2.
Fructose and Glucose
What Three Elements Are Present in All Carbohydrates?
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Honey contains additional loose molecules of fructose and glucose. Fructose is better known as the sugar found in fruit, and glucose is the same simple sugar that the body needs for energy. A 1980 article by J. W. White, Jr., and Landis W. Doner in the USDA Agriculture Handbook Number 335 says that fructose and glucose, also known as levulose and dextrose, respectively, form about 85 percent of the sugar content in honey.
- Honey contains additional loose molecules of fructose and glucose.
- Fructose is better known as the sugar found in fruit, and glucose is the same simple sugar that the body needs for energy.
Maltose
Maltose is also called malt sugar. It is a disaccharide that contains two glucose molecules. Elmhurst College says maltose is the same sugar formed when grain is allowed to reach its highest starch content and then heated when making beer. It is used as a sweetener in foods in its own right, and is sometimes used to coat food such as duck skin to make it crispy.
- Maltose is also called malt sugar.
- It is used as a sweetener in foods in its own right, and is sometimes used to coat food such as duck skin to make it crispy.
Others
What Is Concentrated Sugar?
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White and Doner state that honey contains several other sugars, many of which occur from chemical and enzyme reactions or are added during processing. Honey was originally considered a mix of sucrose, fructose, glucose and what White and Doner call honey dextrin, which they say was not well-defined. Honey dextrin was later revealed to be a mix of several di- and trisaccharides, including maltose, maltotriose, theanderose, kojibiose, isopanose, centose, erlose, panose, maltulose, gentiobiose and turanose; plus two more complex sugars, isomaltotetraose and isomaltopentaose.
Related Articles
References
- Bee Source: Honey Composition and Properties
- The Exploratorium: What Is Sugar
- Georgia State University: Carbohydrates
- Georgia State University: Glucose
- Popkin BM, Hawkes C. Sweetening of the global diet, particularly beverages: patterns, trends, and policy responses. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2015;4(2):174-186. doi:10.1016/S2213-8587(15)00419-2
- New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. How much sugar do you eat?. Updated August 2014.
- DeSilver D. How America's diet has changed over time. Pew Research Center. Updated December 13, 2016.
- Lakhan SE, Kirchgessner A. The emerging role of dietary fructose in obesity and cognitive decline. Nutr J. 2013;12:114. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-12-114
- Djiogue S, Nwabo Kamdje AH, Vecchio L, et al. Insulin resistance and cancer: the role of insulin and IGFs. Endocr Relat Cancer. 2013;20(1):R1-R17. doi:10.1530/ERC-12-0324
- Page KA, Chan O, Arora J, et al. Effects of fructose vs glucose on regional cerebral blood flow in brain regions involved with appetite and reward pathways. JAMA. 2013;309(1):63-70. doi:10.1001/jama.2012.116975
- Goran MI, Ulijaszek SJ, Ventura EE. High fructose corn syrup and diabetes prevalence: a global perspective. Glob Public Health. 2013;8(1):55-64. doi:10.1080/17441692.2012.736257
- Walker RW, Dumke KA, Goran MI. Fructose content in popular beverages made with and without high-fructose corn syrup. Nutrition. 2014;30(7-8):928-35. doi:10.1016/j.nut.2014.04.003
- American Heart Association. Added sugars. Updated April 17, 2018.
Writer Bio
Suzanne S. Wiley is an editor and writer in Southern California. She has been editing since 1989 and began writing in 2009. Wiley received her master's degree from the University of Texas and her work appears on various websites.