GlucoseGlucose is a simple monosaccharide sugar, and one of the most important carbohydrates to plants and animals. It is a primary product of photosynthesis and the source of energy for cellular respiration. Glucose may also be referred to as dextrose.
Glucose comes in two isomers, mirror images of one another: D-glucose and L-glucose. In living things, only D-glucose can be found. L-glucose has some value in the diet food industry, as the body has trouble synthesizing it yet it tastes nearly identical to D-glucose.
Glucose can be extracted commercially by hydrolyzing starch with enzymes. Maize, rice, wheat, potatoes, cassava, arrowroot, and sago can all be used as a source of glucose. Starch, cellulose, glycogen, and lactose are all forms of glucose.
When glucose is poorly used in the human body, it can result in the glycosylation of proteins, thereby destroying them. It is probably this mechanism in diabetics that leads to blindness, peripheral neuropathy, and ultimately kidney failure. Because the modern diet includes far more glucose than our ancestors, glucose related illnesses are probably more pronounced today than ever before.
But glucose is necessary for life; it is the primary fuel in our bodies. It helps create proteins as well as destroy them. It also enables the body to metabolize lipids.
Web Resources On Glucose
Glucose Chemical Structure
Glycolysis
Book Resources On GlucoseGlucose: Metabolism, regulation, and measurement by Kathleen Becan-McBride
Enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic wastes to glucose by L. A Spano
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