xylose
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of xylose
1890–95; < Greek xýl ( on ) wood + -ose 2
Explanation
Xylose is a type of sugar that's found in certain plants and is used to make artificial sweeteners. Xylose is notable because it tastes sweet but doesn't raise blood sugar levels. Xylose is the main ingredient in sugar substitutes like Xylitol. It's a sugar, strictly speaking (you can tell that from the -ose suffix, used in chemical names of sugars such as glucose and fructose). But unlike table sugar, or even the sugars in fruit, xylose doesn't cause a sharp spike in blood sugar when you consume it. In large quantities, however, xylose-sweetened foods can cause digestive upset. So take it easy on that sugar-free gum!
Vocabulary lists containing xylose
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Glucose and xylose are the two most abundant sugars obtained from the breakdown of plant biomass such as agricultural wastes.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 5, 2024
In the wild, the yeast strain of interest, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, prefers glucose and lacks the ability to metabolize xylose.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 5, 2024
After 300 days and hundreds of generations of mutating E. coli, the xylose was gone.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 27, 2019
How does xylose isomerase cause D. melanogaster to slow down?
From Nature ● Oct. 23, 2018
The wound gums, for example, yield arabinose, and the wood gums yield xylose.
From The Chemistry of Plant Life by Roscoe Wilfred Thatcher
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
