fructose

American  

[fruhk-tohs, frook-, frook-] / ˈfrʌk toʊs, ˈfrʊk-, ˈfruk- /

noun

1. Chemistry, Pharmacology. a yellowish to white, crystalline, water-soluble, levorotatory ketose sugar, C 6 H 12 O 6 , sweeter than sucrose, occurring in invert sugar, honey, and a great many fruits: used in foodstuffs and in medicine chiefly in solution as an intravenous nutrient.

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fructose British  

/ -təʊz, ˈfrʌktəʊs, ˈfrʊk- /

noun

1. Also called: laevulose.   fruit sugar.  a white crystalline water-soluble sugar occurring in honey and many fruits. Formula: C 6 H 12 O 6

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fructose Scientific  

/ frŭk′tōs′ /

1. A simple sugar (monosaccharide) found in honey, many fruits, and some vegetables. Fructose linked to glucose is the structure of table sugar, or sucrose. Fructose is an important source of energy for cellular processes. Chemical formula: C ₆ H ₁₂ O ₆ .

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Etymology

Origin of fructose

First recorded in 1860–65; fruct- + -ose ²

Explanation

Fructose is a kind of sugar. You consume fructose every time you eat an apple or a bunch of grapes, or when you stir honey into your tea and take a sip. Fructose is also known as "fruit sugar" because it's present in most types of fruit. Chemically, fructose is a simple or hexose sugar, one with six carbon atoms in it, and it's absorbed directly into your bloodstream when you eat it. It's also one of the very sweetest sugars. The word dates from 1857, from the Latin fructus, or "fruit," and the suffix -ose, used in chemical names of sugars.

Example Sentences

Fructose is also naturally found in honey and fruits.

From Salon • Dec. 25, 2024

Fructose is a different type of metabolic fuel that is increasingly being recognized as a fuel for disease.

From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2024

Fructose and ribose also form rings, although they form five-membered rings as opposed to the six-membered ring of glucose.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

We all know sugar is not healthy, but Wilson is more specific: Fructose, not sugar, is the problem.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 29, 2022

Fructose is also, however, often added by manufacturers of food and drink, to sweeten their products and make them appeal to one species of vertebrate in particular, namely Homo sapiens.

From Economist • Feb. 8, 2018

Related Words

• cellulose
• glucose
• lactose
• starch
• sugar