Fructose | Sugar Metabolism, Digestion & Sweetness | Britannica (original) (raw)

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The truth about high-fructose corn syrup and sugarExplaining the chemical differences between high-fructose corn syrup and sugar.

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fructose, a member of a group of carbohydrates known as simple sugars, or monosaccharides. Fructose, along with glucose, occurs in fruits, honey, and syrups; it also occurs in certain vegetables. It is a component, along with glucose, of the disaccharide sucrose, or common table sugar. Phosphate derivatives of fructose (e.g., fructose-1-phosphate, fructose-1,6-diphosphate) are important in the metabolism of carbohydrates.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Michele Metych.