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  

/ ˈfrʌktəʊs, ˈfrʊk-, -təʊz /

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

See Examples For:

fructose

Patti, the Michael and Tana Powell Professor of Chemistry, in Art & Sciences, and of genetics and medicine, at WashU Medicine, has previously investigated what happens when fructose is processed by the liver.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026

Other research has identified fructose as an important contributor to steatotic liver disease, a condition involving excess fat accumulation in the liver that affects about 30% of adults worldwide.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026

Patti described sorbitol as being essentially "one transformation away from fructose," meaning the body can convert it into a closely related form that may produce similar effects.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026

Unlike many risk factors that patients cannot change, fructose intake can be reduced through dietary choices.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026

That’s when Japanese chemists discovered an enzyme that could transform glucose into the much sweeter sugar molecule called fructose.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

Related Words

• cellulose
• glucose
• lactose
• starch
• sugar