Glucose vs. Sucrose

Main Difference

The main difference between Glucose and Sucrose is that the Glucose is a simple sugar and Sucrose is a chemical compound

• Glucose

  Glucose (also called dextrose) is a simple sugar with the molecular formula C6H12O6. Glucose is the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using energy from sunlight. There it is used to make cellulose in cell walls, which is the most abundant carbohydrate. In energy metabolism, glucose is the most important source of energy in all organisms. Glucose for metabolism is partially stored as a polymer, in plants mainly as starch and amylopectin and in animals as glycogen. Glucose circulates in the blood of animals as blood sugar. The naturally occurring form of glucose is D-glucose, while L-glucose is produced synthetically in comparably small amounts and is of lesser importance.

  Glucose, as intravenous sugar solution, is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, the most important medications needed in a basic health system. The name glucose derives through the French from the Greek γλυκός, which means “sweet,” in reference to must, the sweet, first press of grapes in the making of wine. The suffix “-ose” is a chemical classifier, denoting a sugar.

• Sucrose

  Sucrose is common sugar. It is a disaccharide, a molecule composed of two monosaccharides: glucose and fructose. Sucrose is produced naturally in plants, from which table sugar is refined. It has the molecular formula C12H22O11.

  For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined from either sugarcane or sugar beet. Sugar mills – typically located in tropical regions near where sugarcane is grown – crush the cane and produce raw sugar which is shipped to other factories for refining into pure sucrose. Sugar beet factories are located in temperate climates where the beet is grown, and process the beets directly into refined sugar. The sugar refining process involves washing the raw sugar crystals before dissolving them into a sugar syrup which is filtered and then passed over carbon to remove any residual colour. The sugar syrup is then concentrated by boiling under a vacuum and crystallized as the final purification process to produce crystals of pure sucrose that are clear, odorless, and sweet.

  Sugar is often an added ingredient in food production and food recipes. About 185 million tonnes of sugar were produced worldwide in 2017.

• Glucose (noun)

  a simple sugar which is an important energy source in living organisms and is a component of many carbohydrates.

• Glucose (noun)

  a syrup containing glucose and other sugars, made by hydrolysis of starch and used in the food industry.