What is glucose made of

Many people are familiar with glucose. This substance is widely used in medicine. When you feel nausea and vomiting frequently, or have loss of appetite, you will inject a certain amount of glucose. This is to maintain the patient's physical fitness and prevent the patient from losing nutrition. This substance is mainly produced through photosynthesis.

Glucose (chemical formula C6H12O6) is the most widely distributed and important monosaccharide in nature. It is a polyhydroxy aldehyde. Pure glucose is a colorless crystal. It tastes sweet but not as sweet as sucrose (most people cannot taste the sweetness). It is easily soluble in water, slightly soluble in ethanol, and insoluble in ether. Natural glucose aqueous solution rotates optically to the right, so it is called "dextrose".

Glucose plays an important role in the field of biology. It is the energy source of living cells and an intermediate product of metabolism, that is, the main energy source for organisms. Plants can produce glucose through photosynthesis. It is widely used in candy manufacturing and medical fields.

1. A sugar aqueous solution obtained by partial hydrolysis of edible corn starch with food-grade acid and/or enzymes, which is purified and concentrated. Due to different degrees of hydrolysis, the amount of D-glucose contained can vary greatly. Those made from corn starch are called "corn syrup".

2. Glucose can be obtained by hydrolyzing starch with hydrochloric acid or dilute sulfuric acid. It can also be prepared by using starch as raw material under the action of amyloamylase.

The central nervous system relies almost entirely on blood sugar as energy. Once blood sugar levels rise to 80 mg%, diabetes may occur.

Glucose is produced industrially by hydrolysis of starch. In the 1960s, microbial enzyme method was used to produce glucose. This is a major innovation and has obvious advantages over acid hydrolysis. During production, the raw materials do not need to be refined, and no acid-resistant or pressure-resistant equipment is required. The sugar solution has no bitterness and has a high sugar yield.

Glucose is mainly used in medicine as a nutrient for injection (glucose injection).

In the food industry, glucose can be treated with isomerase to produce fructose, especially high fructose corn syrup containing 42% fructose, which has the same sweetness as sucrose and has become an important product in the current sugar industry.

Glucose is an indispensable nutrient for metabolism in living organisms. The heat released by its oxidation reaction is an important source of energy required for human life activities. It can be used directly in the food and pharmaceutical industries, as a reducing agent in the printing and dyeing leather industry, and glucose is often used as a reducing agent in the mirror industry and in the silver plating process of thermos flasks. Glucose is also used in large quantities in industry as a raw material to synthesize vitamin C (ascorbic acid).