Fructose: Structure, Types (Alpha & Beta), and Properties

Fructose is a natural sugar/carbohydrate commonly found in fruits. Fructose is known as a monosaccharide, ketose sugar and reducing sugar.

Rings

• Fructose has a five-point ring made of four carbons and an oxygen. The ring is closed by the -OH (Hydroxide) group located on carbon-5.

Alpha vs. Beta fructose

• There are two fructose structures, alpha and beta. The only distinguishing factor between the two is the location between the -OH and -CH2OH position located on carbon-2.

Fructose vs. Glucose

• Fructose and glucose are both monosaccharides that are combined to form the disaccharide sugar sucrose. Unlike fructose, glucose has six positions in its ring, rather than five.

3-D structure

• The three-dimensional structure of fructose is in a chair conformation.

Fructose's Presence

• Fructose can mostly be found in sources like fruit, honey, and high fructose corn syrup. Bees typically extract sucrose from pollen and break it down into fructose for honey.