What Is Sugar Monomer? 

Berry Mathew

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sugar monomer

Sugar is an essential component that has a variety of uses in daily life. Therefore, sugar monomer is important for us. Imagine a cake without sugar, you can’t eat it. Almost everyone has a jar of sugar in their houses. Sugar has been divided into several types, glucose, fructose, lactose, etc. they all are forms of simple sugar, which means you can not break them further and they all are naturally obtained. Glucose, one of the types of sugar, is essential for humans as our bodies need sugar to survive. Glucose is the number one food for the brain and it is an extremely important source of energy or fuel throughout the body. Therefore, glucose is considered one of the most important sugars compared to other simple sugars. Let’s have a look at a sugar monomer.  

What Is Sugar Monomer? 

There are four sugar monomers, glucose, fructose, galactose, and xylose. But, glucose is the most important one. Collectively all these are called monosaccharides, they are simple sugars. So, the monosaccharide is a simple sugar that cannot be further broken down into a simple sugar. Glucose is the most abundant monosaccharide found in nature. Hence, you can find glucose in various fruit, honey, and even in starch and cane sugar. We obtain a large portion of the energy in our bodies from glucose through the foods we eat. 

Fructose is a simple ketonic monosaccharide or simple sugar. Fructose is mostly found in plants and their fruits, flowers, and root vegetables, hence earning it the moniker of fruit sugar. It is abundantly found in honey and corn syrup. 

While talking about Galactose, which is sometimes abbreviated as Gal, is a simple sugar monomer that is about as sweet as glucose, and about 65% as sweet as sucrose. Sucrose is formed with glucose and fructose attached to each other, therefore, sucrose is also called a disaccharide. 

Now, you have an idea of a single sugar monomer. Let’s know the properties of sugar monomer form

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Properties Of Sugar Monomer 

The properties of sugar monomers are,

  • The chemical formula of glucose is C6H12O6, the chemical formula of fructose is, and the chemical formula of galactose is C6H12O6.
  • Glucose is a white crystalline solid with a melting point of 146 deg C.
  • When the glucose molecule is crystallized with cold water, it forms glucose monohydrate having molecular formula C6H12O6. H2O and a melting point of 86 deg C.
  • Galactose is an odorless white solid that has a sweet flavor.
  • Galactose is a reducing sugar and has a molar mass of 180.156 g/mol.
  • The melting point of fructose is around 103 deg C and it has a molar mass of 180.156 g/mol.
  • Fructose is a sweet compound and it is found as a white crystalline solid at standard temperature and pressure.
  • Fructose is the most water-soluble sugar.

Like sugar monomers, there are also various monomers such as protein monomer called amino acids, lipid monomer called fatty acids and glycerol, and monomers of carbohydrates called monosaccharides. 

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Sugar Structure And Function 

Let’s understand all about the sugar structure and function,  

Sugar Structure 

When glucose and fructose get attached to each other a new compound is formed called sucrose, which is table sugar. The chemical formula of sucrose is C12H22O12 and the molecular weight is around 342.20 g/mol. The density of sucrose is around 1.587 g/cm3 and the melting point is 186 deg C. Table sugar is a disaccharide consisting of two simple sugars called fructose and glucose. The chemical formula of glucose and fructose is the same C6H12O6, but the position of carbon atoms is different. 

Table sugar is white solid, odorless, and has a sweet taste. This non-reducing disaccharide compound is highly soluble in water and methanol. Table sugar does not dissolve in ethyl ether but is highly soluble in ethanol. It can be obtained from sugarcane, beta vulgaris, and various other plants. And it is widely used in food as a sweetener.   

Sugar Function 

The main function of sugar is to provide a sweet taste. Sugar has various other functions in food technology. The important functions among these are that added sugar in foods acts as a sweetener, preservative, texture modification, fermentation substrate, flavoring and coloring agent, and bulking agent.  

Facts About Sugar 

The facts about sugar are 

  • Table sugar is called Sucrose, which is a compound consisting of two simple units of simple sugar and they are fructose and glucose.
  • Table sugar or sucrose is highly soluble in water but not in weather ester.
  • Sugar is found in all plants and it has been around for 10,000 years.
  • Sugar saves limbs and lives and is a good source of energy.
  • Sugar does not spoil.
  • Sugar was introduced in the West as a spice, not a sweetener.
  • We are born to crave sugar, it is in our DNA.

Follow Monomerof to know more about various monomers.

FAQ

What Are Sugar Monomers Made Of?

Sucrose (table sugar) is the most common disaccharide, which is composed of the monomers glucose and fructose. A polysaccharide is a long chain of monosaccharides linked by glycosidic bonds; the chain may be branched or unbranched and can contain many types of monosaccharides.

What Are The Three Monomers Of Sugar?

Simple sugars are monomers called monosaccharides. Monosaccharides contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen molecules.

What Is The Simplest Sugar Monomer?

Monosaccharides

Sugars are made up of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen; no nitrogen, except for amino sugars. The simplest sugars are monosaccharides.

Are Sugars Polymers Or Monomers?

Answer and Explanation: Simple sugars are monomers because as their name suggests they are simple or individual sugar molecules. Monomers are the building block of polymers and simple sugars are single sugar molecules such as glucose which combine together to form polymers, chains of glucose units such as glycogen.

Conclusion 

In this article, you have learned all about the sugar monomer structure, functions, and monomer examples. What is a monomer in chemistry? Well, the monomer is a basic and simple building block or unit of any polymer. Is amino acid a monomer? Yes, the amino acid is the monomer of proteins. Simple sugar is also called monosaccharides, which can not be broken down into simple sugar. While each category of monosaccharides has a common general formula, there are multiple structure arrangements for each chemical formula. So, the monosaccharide chemical formula is CnH2nOn. This was all about the sugar monomer. 

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