Why sucrose is non-reducing sugar?
Sucrose, or table sugar, is the most common disaccharide. Although the term “sugar” is commonly used to refer to sucrose, sucrose is only one of a large group of sugars. Disaccharides are carbohydrates containing two monosaccharides linked by a glycosidic bond. Glycosidic bonds form when the anomeric carbon of one sugar reacts with a hydroxyl group belonging to a second sugar. Sugars with free anomeric carbons can reduce ferric (Fe3+) and cupric (Cu2+) ions, and are called reducing sugars. Anomeric carbons involved in glycosidic bonds are nonreducing. In general, disaccharides and polysaccharides contain both reducing and nonreducing sugars. These carbohydrates are represented and their formulas are written from nonreducing end to reducing end. A common disaccharide is lactose, which is found only in milk. Lactose is formed from monosaccharides β-D-galactose and β-D-glucose. The anomeric carbon of the β-D-galactose molecule reacts with the C-4 hydroxyl group of the β-D-glucose molecule
