Placetas ( Spanish pronunciation: [plaˈsetas] ) is a city in the Villa Clara Province in the center of Cuba ; before the change in the country's government in 1959 the province was called Las Villas. The town is also known as La Villa de los Laureles because of its wild laurel trees. Placetas is also a municipio , one of 13 subdivisions of the Villa Clara Province. Cuba's geographical center, Guaracabulla, is located in this municipality.
117-552: Placetas was founded on September 9, 1861 mainly due to the sugar production industry. Nowadays, the main produce of the area is tobacco . The main contribution to its foundation came from Jose Martinez-Fortun y Erles, a Spanish Marques and former colonel in the Spanish Army. The town is located on the Carretera Central road, which cuts through the town. The town's position on this road has allowed it to serve as
234-401: A covalent bond known as a glycosidic linkage formed via a dehydration reaction , resulting in the loss of a hydrogen atom from one monosaccharide and a hydroxyl group from the other. The formula of unmodified disaccharides is C 12 H 22 O 11 . Although there are numerous kinds of disaccharides, a handful of disaccharides are particularly notable. Sucrose , pictured to the right,
351-401: A cultivated variety of Beta vulgaris in the family Amaranthaceae , the tuberous root of which contains a high proportion of sucrose. It is cultivated as a root crop in temperate regions with adequate rainfall and requires a fertile soil. The crop is harvested mechanically in the autumn and the crown of leaves and excess soil removed. The roots do not deteriorate rapidly and may be left in
468-413: A balanced diet that includes six one-ounce servings of grain foods each day, at least half from whole grain sources and the rest are from enriched . The glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load concepts have been developed to characterize food behavior during human digestion. They rank carbohydrate-rich foods based on the rapidity and magnitude of their effect on blood glucose levels. Glycemic index
585-517: A component of DNA , is a modified version of ribose ; chitin is composed of repeating units of N-acetyl glucosamine , a nitrogen -containing form of glucose. Carbohydrates are polyhydroxy aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, acids, their simple derivatives and their polymers having linkages of the acetal type. They may be classified according to their degree of polymerization , and may be divided initially into three principal groups, namely sugars, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides. Monosaccharides are
702-494: A diet high in free sugar, especially refined sugar, was damaging to human health . In 2015, the World Health Organization strongly recommended that adults and children reduce their intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake and encouraged a reduction to below 5%. In general, high sugar consumption damages human health more than it provides nutritional benefit and is associated with
819-399: A form of carbohydrate storage in animal livers, was discovered by French physiologist Claude Bernard . Formerly the name "carbohydrate" was used in chemistry for any compound with the formula C m (H 2 O) n . Following this definition, some chemists considered formaldehyde (CH 2 O) to be the simplest carbohydrate, while others claimed that title for glycolaldehyde . Today,
936-467: A goal of 55–75% of total energy from carbohydrates, but only 10% directly from sugars (their term for simple carbohydrates). A 2017 Cochrane Systematic Review concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support the claim that whole grain diets can affect cardiovascular disease. Nutritionists often refer to carbohydrates as either simple or complex. However, the exact distinction between these groups can be ambiguous. The term complex carbohydrate
1053-479: A monosaccharide often coexists with a closed ring form where the aldehyde / ketone carbonyl group carbon (C=O) and hydroxyl group (–OH) react forming a hemiacetal with a new C–O–C bridge. Monosaccharides can be linked together into what are called polysaccharides (or oligosaccharides ) in a large variety of ways. Many carbohydrates contain one or more modified monosaccharide units that have had one or more groups replaced or removed. For example, deoxyribose ,
1170-576: A negligible amount of iron or any other nutrient. Because brown sugar contains 5–10% molasses reintroduced during processing, its value to some consumers is a richer flavor than white sugar. High sugar consumption damages human health more than it provides nutritional benefit, and in particular is associated with a risk of cardiometabolic health detriments. Sugar refiners and manufacturers of sugary foods and drinks have sought to influence medical research and public health recommendations, with substantial and largely clandestine spending documented from
1287-522: A risk of cardiometabolic and other health detriments. The etymology of sugar reflects the commodity's spread. From Sanskrit śarkarā , meaning "ground or candied sugar", came Persian shakar and Arabic sukkar . The Arabic word was borrowed in Medieval Latin as succarum , whence came the 12th century French sucre and the English sugar . Sugar was introduced into Europe by
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#17327767323201404-585: A stop for many travellers. Placetas has grown considerably over the years, being declared a town in 1881 and a city in 1925. In 1879 it was established as its own municipality. Placetas is also known by the great carnavals which take place in July and Christmas and New Year's Eve. Until the 1977 administrative reform, Placetas was divided into the following barrios : Cabecera (Placetas town proper), Guaracabulla (or Guaracabuya), Hernando, Nazareno, San Andres, Sitio Potrero and Tibisial. Annual celebrations displaying
1521-451: A sweet taste but are not classified as sugar. Sugars are found in the tissues of most plants. Honey and fruits are abundant natural sources of simple sugars. Sucrose is especially concentrated in sugarcane and sugar beet , making them ideal for efficient commercial extraction to make refined sugar. In 2016, the combined world production of those two crops was about two billion tonnes . Maltose may be produced by malting grain. Lactose
1638-468: A symmetric molecule with no stereo centers. The assignment of D or L is made according to the orientation of the asymmetric carbon furthest from the carbonyl group: in a standard Fischer projection if the hydroxyl group is on the right the molecule is a D sugar, otherwise it is an L sugar. The "D-" and "L-" prefixes should not be confused with "d-" or "l-", which indicate the direction that the sugar rotates plane polarized light . This usage of "d-" and "l-"
1755-440: A very limited extent, though ruminants can do so with the help of symbiotic bacteria in their gut. DNA and RNA are built up of the monosaccharides deoxyribose and ribose , respectively. Deoxyribose has the formula C 5 H 10 O 4 and ribose the formula C 5 H 10 O 5 . Because sugars burn easily when exposed to flame, the handling of sugars risks dust explosion . The risk of explosion
1872-415: A whiter product. About 2,500 litres (660 US gal) of irrigation water is needed for every one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of sugar produced. In 2020, global production of sugar beets was 253 million tonnes , led by Russia with 13% of the world total (table). Sugar beet became a major source of sugar in the 19th century when methods for extracting the sugar became available. It is a biennial plant ,
1989-421: A wide variety of metabolic pathways across species: plants synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water by photosynthesis storing the absorbed energy internally, often in the form of starch or lipids . Plant components are consumed by animals and fungi , and used as fuel for cellular respiration . Oxidation of one gram of carbohydrate yields approximately 16 kJ (4 kcal) of energy , while
2106-471: A wide variety of natural and processed foods. Starch is a polysaccharide and is abundant in cereals (wheat, maize, rice), potatoes, and processed food based on cereal flour , such as bread , pizza or pasta. Sugars appear in human diet mainly as table sugar (sucrose, extracted from sugarcane or sugar beets ), lactose (abundant in milk), glucose and fructose, both of which occur naturally in honey , many fruits , and some vegetables. Table sugar, milk, or honey
2223-691: Is O -β-D-galactopyranosyl-(1→4)-D-glucopyranose. Other notable disaccharides include maltose (two D-glucoses linked α-1,4) and cellobiose (two D-glucoses linked β-1,4). Disaccharides can be classified into two types: reducing and non-reducing disaccharides. If the functional group is present in bonding with another sugar unit, it is called a reducing disaccharide or biose. Oligosaccharides are saccharide polymers composed of three to ten units of monosaccharides, connected via glycosidic linkages , similar to disaccharides . They are usually linked to lipids or amino acids glycosic linkage with oxygen or nitrogen to form glygolipids and glycoproteins , though some, like
2340-690: Is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula C m (H 2 O) n (where m may or may not be different from n ), which does not mean the H has covalent bonds with O (for example with CH 2 O , H has a covalent bond with C but not with O). However, not all carbohydrates conform to this precise stoichiometric definition (e.g., uronic acids , deoxy-sugars such as fucose ), nor are all chemicals that do conform to this definition automatically classified as carbohydrates (e.g., formaldehyde and acetic acid ). The term
2457-624: Is a measure of how quickly food glucose is absorbed, while glycemic load is a measure of the total absorbable glucose in foods. The insulin index is a similar, more recent classification method that ranks foods based on their effects on blood insulin levels, which are caused by glucose (or starch) and some amino acids in food. Low-carbohydrate diets may miss the health advantages – such as increased intake of dietary fiber – afforded by high-quality carbohydrates found in legumes and pulses , whole grains , fruits, and vegetables. A "meta-analysis, of moderate quality," included as adverse effects of
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#17327767323202574-421: Is a refined form of sucrose. In the body, compound sugars are hydrolysed into simple sugars. Longer chains of monosaccharides (>2) are not regarded as sugars and are called oligosaccharides or polysaccharides . Starch is a glucose polymer found in plants, the most abundant source of energy in human food . Some other chemical substances, such as ethylene glycol , glycerol and sugar alcohols , may have
2691-483: Is a structural component of the cell wall of plants and many forms of algae. Ribose is a component of RNA . Deoxyribose is a component of DNA . Lyxose is a component of lyxoflavin found in the human heart. Ribulose and xylulose occur in the pentose phosphate pathway . Galactose , a component of milk sugar lactose , is found in galactolipids in plant cell membranes and in glycoproteins in many tissues . Mannose occurs in human metabolism, especially in
2808-428: Is an aldopentose (a five-carbon aldehyde), and fructose is a ketohexose (a six-carbon ketone). Each carbon atom bearing a hydroxyl group (-OH), with the exception of the first and last carbons, are asymmetric , making them stereo centers with two possible configurations each (R or S). Because of this asymmetry, a number of isomers may exist for any given monosaccharide formula. Using Le Bel-van't Hoff rule ,
2925-495: Is an accepted version of this page Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting , soluble carbohydrates , many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides , include glucose , fructose , and galactose . Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double sugars, are molecules made of two bonded monosaccharides; common examples are sucrose (glucose + fructose), lactose (glucose + galactose), and maltose (two molecules of glucose). White sugar
3042-441: Is an important component of coenzymes (e.g., ATP , FAD and NAD ) and the backbone of the genetic molecule known as RNA . The related deoxyribose is a component of DNA. Saccharides and their derivatives include many other important biomolecules that play key roles in the immune system , fertilization , preventing pathogenesis , blood clotting , and development . Carbohydrates are central to nutrition and are found in
3159-478: Is any of several species, or their hybrids, of giant grasses in the genus Saccharum in the family Poaceae . They have been cultivated in tropical climates in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia over centuries for the sucrose found in their stems. Sugar cane requires a frost-free climate with sufficient rainfall during the growing season to make full use of the plant's substantial growth potential. The crop
3276-530: Is calculated in the USDA database and does not always correspond to the sum of the sugars, the starch, and the "dietary fiber". Carbohydrate metabolism is the series of biochemical processes responsible for the formation , breakdown and interconversion of carbohydrates in living organisms . The most important carbohydrate is glucose , a simple sugar ( monosaccharide ) that is metabolized by nearly all known organisms. Glucose and other carbohydrates are part of
3393-423: Is called San Atanasio de Placetas, after the town's patron saint. As of 1996, it had one library , a central post office , three middle-high schools (13 de Marzo, Rodolfo Leon Perlacia and Julio Antonio Mella), one police station and many recreational areas. Most of the downtown structures were built before the 1959 dictatorship of Fidel Castro , and little of the town has been renovated. Sugar This
3510-489: Is due to the amount of molasses they contain. They may be classified based on their darkness or country of origin. Worldwide sugar provides 10% of the daily calories (based on a 2000 kcal diet). In 1750, the average Briton got 72 calories a day from sugar. In 1913, this had risen to 395. In 2015, sugar still provided around 14% of the calories in British diets. According to one source, per capita consumption of sugar in 2016
3627-437: Is filtered out, many of the impurities are removed at the same time. Removal of color is achieved by using either a granular activated carbon or an ion-exchange resin . The sugar syrup is concentrated by boiling and then cooled and seeded with sugar crystals, causing the sugar to crystallize out. The liquor is spun off in a centrifuge and the white crystals are dried in hot air and ready to be packaged or used. The surplus liquor
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3744-444: Is harvested mechanically or by hand, chopped into lengths and conveyed rapidly to the processing plant (commonly known as a sugar mill ) where it is either milled and the juice extracted with water or extracted by diffusion. The juice is clarified with lime and heated to destroy enzymes . The resulting thin syrup is concentrated in a series of evaporators, after which further water is removed. The resulting supersaturated solution
3861-418: Is higher when the sugar has been milled to superfine texture, such as for use in chewing gum . The 2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion , which killed 14 people and injured 36, and destroyed most of the refinery, was caused by the ignition of sugar dust. In its culinary use, exposing sugar to heat causes caramelization . As the process occurs, volatile chemicals such as diacetyl are released, producing
3978-399: Is known as affination and involves immersing the sugar crystals in a concentrated syrup that softens and removes the sticky brown coating without dissolving them. The crystals are then separated from the liquor and dissolved in water. The resulting syrup is treated either by a carbonatation or by a phosphatation process. Both involve the precipitation of a fine solid in the syrup and when this
4095-449: Is limited evidence to support routine use of low-carbohydrate dieting in managing type 1 diabetes . The American Diabetes Association recommends that people with diabetes should adopt a generally healthy diet, rather than a diet focused on carbohydrate or other macronutrients. An extreme form of low-carbohydrate diet – the ketogenic diet – is established as a medical diet for treating epilepsy . Through celebrity endorsement during
4212-429: Is made from raw sugar that has undergone a refining process to remove the molasses . Raw sugar is sucrose which is extracted from sugarcane or sugar beet . While raw sugar can be consumed, the refining process removes unwanted tastes and results in refined sugar or white sugar. The sugar may be transported in bulk to the country where it will be used and the refining process often takes place there. The first stage
4329-454: Is made into refiners' molasses. The International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis sets standards for the measurement of the purity of refined sugar, known as ICUMSA numbers; lower numbers indicate a higher level of purity in the refined sugar. Refined sugar is widely used for industrial needs for higher quality. Refined sugar is purer (ICUMSA below 300) than raw sugar (ICUMSA over 1,500). The level of purity associated with
4446-474: Is most common in biochemistry , where it is a synonym of saccharide (from Ancient Greek σάκχαρον ( sákkharon ) 'sugar' ), a group that includes sugars , starch , and cellulose . The saccharides are divided into four chemical groups: monosaccharides , disaccharides , oligosaccharides , and polysaccharides . Monosaccharides and disaccharides, the smallest (lower molecular weight ) carbohydrates, are commonly referred to as sugars. While
4563-421: Is no longer followed in carbohydrate chemistry. The aldehyde or ketone group of a straight-chain monosaccharide will react reversibly with a hydroxyl group on a different carbon atom to form a hemiacetal or hemiketal , forming a heterocyclic ring with an oxygen bridge between two carbon atoms. Rings with five and six atoms are called furanose and pyranose forms, respectively, and exist in equilibrium with
4680-454: Is not clear how low-carbohydrate dieting affects cardiovascular health , although two reviews showed that carbohydrate restriction may improve lipid markers of cardiovascular disease risk. Carbohydrate-restricted diets are no more effective than a conventional healthy diet in preventing the onset of type 2 diabetes , but for people with type 2 diabetes, they are a viable option for losing weight or helping with glycemic control . There
4797-496: Is often added to drinks and many prepared foods such as jam, biscuits and cakes. Cellulose , a polysaccharide found in the cell walls of all plants, is one of the main components of insoluble dietary fiber . Although it is not digestible by humans, cellulose and insoluble dietary fiber generally help maintain a healthy digestive system by facilitating bowel movements . Other polysaccharides contained in dietary fiber include resistant starch and inulin , which feed some bacteria in
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4914-464: Is prepared, individual differences in metabolism, and the chemistry of the carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are sometimes divided into "available carbohydrates", which are absorbed in the small intestine and "unavailable carbohydrates", which pass to the large intestine , where they are subject to fermentation by the gastrointestinal microbiota . The USDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 call for moderate- to high-carbohydrate consumption from
5031-463: Is required in the early steps of glycolysis to phosphorylate Glucose to Glucose 6-Phosphate ( G6P ) and Fructose 6-Phosphate ( F6P ) to Fructose 1,6-biphosphate ( FBP ), thereby pushing the reaction forward irreversibly. In some cases, as with humans, not all carbohydrate types are usable as the digestive and metabolic enzymes necessary are not present. Carbohydrate chemistry is a large and economically important branch of organic chemistry. Some of
5148-414: Is seeded with sugar crystals, facilitating crystal formation and drying. Molasses is a by-product of the process and the fiber from the stems, known as bagasse , is burned to provide energy for the sugar extraction process. The crystals of raw sugar have a sticky brown coating and either can be used as they are, can be bleached by sulfur dioxide , or can be treated in a carbonatation process to produce
5265-420: Is sometimes used as a sweetener for foods (e.g., toast and cereal) and beverages (e.g., coffee and tea). The average person consumes about 24 kilograms (53 pounds) of sugar each year. North and South Americans consume up to 50 kg (110 lb), and Africans consume under 20 kg (44 lb). As free sugar consumption grew in the latter part of the 20th century, researchers began to examine whether
5382-529: Is still used locally to make desserts today. Sugarcane is native of tropical areas such as the Indian subcontinent (South Asia) and Southeast Asia. Different species seem to have originated from different locations; Saccharum barberi originated in India, and S. edule and S. officinarum came from New Guinea . One of the earliest historical references to sugarcane is in Chinese manuscripts dating to
5499-438: Is the metabolic reaction which cells undergo to break down larger molecules, extracting energy. There are two major metabolic pathways of monosaccharide catabolism : glycolysis and the citric acid cycle . In glycolysis, oligo- and polysaccharides are cleaved first to smaller monosaccharides by enzymes called glycoside hydrolases . The monosaccharide units can then enter into monosaccharide catabolism. A 2 ATP investment
5616-450: Is the most abundant disaccharide, and the main form in which carbohydrates are transported in plants. It is composed of one D-glucose molecule and one D-fructose molecule. The systematic name for sucrose, O -α-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-D-fructofuranoside, indicates four things: Lactose , a disaccharide composed of one D-galactose molecule and one D-glucose molecule, occurs naturally in mammalian milk. The systematic name for lactose
5733-439: Is the only sugar that cannot be extracted from plants. It can only be found in milk, including human breast milk, and in some dairy products . A cheap source of sugar is corn syrup , industrially produced by converting corn starch into sugars, such as maltose, fructose and glucose. Sucrose is used in prepared foods (e.g., cookies and cakes), is sometimes added to commercially available ultra-processed food and beverages, and
5850-699: Is three or more. A typical monosaccharide has the structure H–(CHOH) x (C=O)–(CHOH) y –H, that is, an aldehyde or ketone with many hydroxyl groups added, usually one on each carbon atom that is not part of the aldehyde or ketone functional group . Examples of monosaccharides are glucose , fructose , and glyceraldehydes . However, some biological substances commonly called "monosaccharides" do not conform to this formula (e.g., uronic acids and deoxy-sugars such as fucose ) and there are many chemicals that do conform to this formula but are not considered to be monosaccharides (e.g., formaldehyde CH 2 O and inositol (CH 2 O) 6 ). The open-chain form of
5967-605: The Khyber Pass and caravan routes. It was not plentiful or cheap in early times, and in most parts of the world, honey was more often used for sweetening. Originally, people chewed raw sugarcane to extract its sweetness. Even after refined sugarcane became more widely available during the European colonial era, palm sugar was preferred in Java and other sugar producing parts of southeast Asia, and along with coconut sugar ,
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#17327767323206084-583: The World Health Organization (WHO) provides evidence that high intake of sugary drinks (including fruit juice ) increases the risk of obesity by adding to overall energy intake . By itself, sugar is doubtfully a factor causing obesity and metabolic syndrome . Meta-analysis showed that excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages increased the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome – including weight gain and obesity – in adults and children. Carbohydrate A carbohydrate ( / ˌ k ɑːr b oʊ ˈ h aɪ d r eɪ t / )
6201-535: The glycosylation of certain proteins. Fructose , or fruit sugar, is found in many plants and humans, it is metabolized in the liver, absorbed directly into the intestines during digestion , and found in semen . Trehalose , a major sugar of insects, is rapidly hydrolyzed into two glucose molecules to support continuous flight. Two joined monosaccharides are called a disaccharide , the simplest kind of polysaccharide. Examples include sucrose and lactose . They are composed of two monosaccharide units bound together by
6318-1078: The lac operon will express enzymes for the digestion of lactose when it is present, but if both lactose and glucose are present the lac operon is repressed, resulting in the glucose being used first (see: Diauxie ). Polysaccharides are also common sources of energy. Many organisms can easily break down starches into glucose; most organisms, however, cannot metabolize cellulose or other polysaccharides like chitin and arabinoxylans . These carbohydrate types can be metabolized by some bacteria and protists. Ruminants and termites , for example, use microorganisms to process cellulose. Even though these complex carbohydrates are not very digestible, they represent an important dietary element for humans, called dietary fiber . Fiber enhances digestion, among other benefits. The Institute of Medicine recommends that American and Canadian adults get between 45 and 65% of dietary energy from whole-grain carbohydrates. The Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization jointly recommend that national dietary guidelines set
6435-486: The microbiota of the large intestine , and are metabolized by these bacteria to yield short-chain fatty acids . In scientific literature , the term "carbohydrate" has many synonyms, like "sugar" (in the broad sense), "saccharide", "ose", "glucide", "hydrate of carbon" or " polyhydroxy compounds with aldehyde or ketone ". Some of these terms, especially "carbohydrate" and "sugar", are also used with other meanings. In food science and in many informal contexts,
6552-516: The molecular formula C 6 H 12 O 6 . The names of typical sugars end with - ose , as in "glucose" and " fructose ". Sometimes such words may also refer to any types of carbohydrates soluble in water. The acyclic mono- and disaccharides contain either aldehyde groups or ketone groups. These carbon-oxygen double bonds (C=O) are the reactive centers. All saccharides with more than one ring in their structure result from two or more monosaccharides joined by glycosidic bonds with
6669-769: The raffinose series and the fructooligosaccharides , do not. They have roles in cell recognition and cell adhesion . Carbohydrate consumed in food yields 3.87 kilocalories of energy per gram for simple sugars, and 3.57 to 4.12 kilocalories per gram for complex carbohydrate in most other foods. Relatively high levels of carbohydrate are associated with processed foods or refined foods made from plants, including sweets, cookies and candy, table sugar, honey, soft drinks, breads and crackers, jams and fruit products, pastas and breakfast cereals. Lower amounts of digestible carbohydrate are usually associated with unrefined foods as these foods have more fiber, including beans, tubers, rice, and unrefined fruit . Animal-based foods generally have
6786-687: The scientific nomenclature of carbohydrates is complex, the names of the monosaccharides and disaccharides very often end in the suffix -ose , which was originally taken from the word glucose (from Ancient Greek γλεῦκος ( gleûkos ) 'wine, must '), and is used for almost all sugars (e.g., fructose (fruit sugar), sucrose ( cane or beet sugar), ribose , lactose (milk sugar)). Carbohydrates perform numerous roles in living organisms. Polysaccharides serve as an energy store (e.g., starch and glycogen ) and as structural components (e.g., cellulose in plants and chitin in arthropods and fungi). The 5-carbon monosaccharide ribose
6903-448: The -OH substituent on the anomeric carbon rests on the opposite side ( trans ) of the ring from the CH 2 OH side branch. The alternative form, in which the CH 2 OH substituent and the anomeric hydroxyl are on the same side (cis) of the plane of the ring, is called the β anomer . Monosaccharides are the major fuel source for metabolism , being used both as an energy source ( glucose being
7020-454: The 12th century, the Republic of Venice acquired some villages near Tyre and set up estates to produce sugar for export to Europe. It supplemented the use of honey, which had previously been the only available sweetener. Crusade chronicler William of Tyre , writing in the late 12th century, described sugar as "very necessary for the use and health of mankind". In the 15th century, Venice
7137-557: The 1960s to 2016. The results of research on the health effects of sugary food and drink differ significantly, depending on whether the researcher has financial ties to the food and drink industry. A 2013 medical review concluded that "unhealthy commodity industries should have no role in the formation of national or international NCD [ non-communicable disease ] policy". Similar efforts to steer coverage of sugar-related health information have been made in popular media, including news media and social media. A 2003 technical report by
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#17327767323207254-680: The 8th century BCE, which state that the use of sugarcane originated in India. In the tradition of Indian medicine ( āyurveda ), sugarcane is known by the name Ikṣu , and sugarcane juice is known as Phāṇita . Its varieties, synonyms and characteristics are defined in nighaṇṭus such as the Bhāvaprakāśa (1.6.23, group of sugarcanes). Sugar remained relatively unimportant until the Indians discovered methods of turning sugarcane juice into granulated crystals that were easier to store and transport. The Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides attested to
7371-678: The Arabs in Sicily and Spain. The English word jaggery , a coarse brown sugar made from date palm sap or sugarcane juice, has a similar etymological origin: Portuguese jágara from the Malayalam cakkarā , which is from the Sanskrit śarkarā . Sugar has been produced in the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years. Sugarcane cultivation spread from there into China via
7488-615: The Elder also described sugar in his 1st century CE Natural History : " Sugar is made in Arabia as well, but Indian sugar is better. It is a kind of honey found in cane, white as gum, and it crunches between the teeth. It comes in lumps the size of a hazelnut. Sugar is used only for medical purposes. " Crusaders brought sugar back to Europe after their campaigns in the Holy Land , where they encountered caravans carrying "sweet salt". Early in
7605-522: The Parque Casallas meet and houses the popular Rumbos, one of the many touristic places recently opened. This street also houses the underground commerce and business of the town. It is referred to by Placetenos as La Calle 8 de Placetas, in reference to 8th St. in Miami. All sugar mills have closed down, there is no industry and the supermarkets are empty The central Catholic church in the town
7722-637: The United States, most of them in Miami . This contributes to the high amount of comunitarios that travel to Placetas every month from the United States. Nowadays the town also houses many aluminum factories and is known around Cuba as the capital of aluminum because of the export business. One of the main streets in Placetas is the Primera del Oeste street, which is the corner where Cuba's central road and
7839-401: The aldohexose D-glucose, for example, has the formula (C·H 2 O) 6 , of which four of its six carbons atoms are stereogenic, making D-glucose one of 2 =16 possible stereoisomers . In the case of glyceraldehydes , an aldotriose, there is one pair of possible stereoisomers, which are enantiomers and epimers . 1, 3-dihydroxyacetone , the ketose corresponding to the aldose glyceraldehydes, is
7956-419: The amount of fat vs carbohydrate in the diet." In the long term, effective weight loss or maintenance depends on calorie restriction , not the ratio of macronutrients in a diet. The reasoning of diet advocates that carbohydrates cause undue fat accumulation by increasing blood insulin levels, and that low-carbohydrate diets have a "metabolic advantage", is not supported by clinical evidence . Further, it
8073-472: The best and most complete account we have of a late medieval banquet" includes the first mention of sugar sculptures, as the final food brought in was "a heraldic menagerie sculpted in sugar: lions, stags, monkeys ... each holding in paw or beak the arms of the Hungarian king ". Other recorded grand feasts in the decades following included similar pieces. Originally the sculptures seem to have been eaten in
8190-433: The carbonyl group is an aldehyde , the monosaccharide is an aldose ; if the carbonyl group is a ketone , the monosaccharide is a ketose . Monosaccharides with three carbon atoms are called trioses , those with four are called tetroses , five are called pentoses , six are hexoses , and so on. These two systems of classification are often combined. For example, glucose is an aldohexose (a six-carbon aldehyde), ribose
8307-456: The centers of distribution, became known for candied fruit, while Venice specialized in pastries, sweets (candies), and sugar sculptures . Sugar was considered to have "valuable medicinal properties" as a "warm" food under prevailing categories, being "helpful to the stomach, to cure cold diseases, and sooth lung complaints". A feast given in Tours in 1457 by Gaston de Foix , which is "probably
8424-479: The characteristic caramel flavor. Fructose, galactose, and glucose are all simple sugars, monosaccharides, with the general formula C 6 H 12 O 6 . They have five hydroxyl groups (−OH) and a carbonyl group (C=O) and are cyclic when dissolved in water. They each exist as several isomers with dextro- and laevo-rotatory forms that cause polarized light to diverge to the right or the left. Lactose, maltose, and sucrose are all compound sugars, disaccharides, with
8541-437: The colonization of tropical islands and areas where labor-intensive sugarcane plantations and sugar manufacturing facilities could be successful. World consumption increased more than 100 times from 1850 to 2000, led by Britain, where it increased from about 2 pounds per head per year in 1650 to 90 pounds by the early 20th century. In the late 18th century Britain consumed about half the sugar which reached Europe. After slavery
8658-409: The colors of sugar, expressed by standard number ICUMSA , the smaller ICUMSA numbers indicate the higher purity of sugar. Brown sugars are granulated sugars, either containing residual molasses, or with the grains deliberately coated with molasses to produce a light- or dark-colored sugar such as muscovado and turbinado . They are used in baked goods, confectionery, and toffees . Their darkness
8775-444: The development and use of various artificial sweeteners . Scientifically, sugar loosely refers to a number of carbohydrates , such as monosaccharides , disaccharides , or oligosaccharides . Monosaccharides are also called "simple sugars", the most important being glucose. Most monosaccharides have a formula that conforms to C n H 2n O n with n between 3 and 7 ( deoxyribose being an exception). Glucose has
8892-401: The diet halitosis , headache and constipation . Carbohydrate-restricted diets can be as effective as low-fat diets in helping achieve weight loss over the short term when overall calorie intake is reduced. An Endocrine Society scientific statement said that "when calorie intake is held constant [...] body-fat accumulation does not appear to be affected by even very pronounced changes in
9009-640: The difficulty of importing sugar when shipping was subject to blockade . By 1880 the sugar beet was the main source of sugar in Europe. It was also cultivated in Lincolnshire and other parts of England, although the United Kingdom continued to import the main part of its sugar from its colonies. Until the late nineteenth century, sugar was purchased in loaves , which had to be cut using implements called sugar nips . In later years, granulated sugar
9126-413: The early 21st century, it became a fad diet as a means of weight loss, but with risks of undesirable side effects , such as low energy levels and increased hunger, insomnia , nausea, and gastrointestinal discomfort. The British Dietetic Association named it one of the "top 5 worst celeb diets to avoid in 2018". Most dietary carbohydrates contain glucose, either as their only building block (as in
9243-459: The field for some weeks before being transported to the processing plant where the crop is washed and sliced, and the sugar extracted by diffusion. Milk of lime is added to the raw juice with calcium carbonate . After water is evaporated by boiling the syrup under a vacuum, the syrup is cooled and seeded with sugar crystals. The white sugar that crystallizes can be separated in a centrifuge and dried, requiring no further refining. Refined sugar
9360-463: The form of storage polysaccharides such as starch or inulin . Starch, consisting of two different polymers of glucose, is a readily degradable form of chemical energy stored by cells , and can be converted to other types of energy. Another polymer of glucose is cellulose, which is a linear chain composed of several hundred or thousand glucose units. It is used by plants as a structural component in their cell walls. Humans can digest cellulose only to
9477-498: The general formula C 12 H 22 O 11 . They are formed by the combination of two monosaccharide molecules with the exclusion of a molecule of water. The sugar contents of common fruits and vegetables are presented in Table 1. Due to rising demand, sugar production in general increased some 14% over the period 2009 to 2018. The largest importers were China, Indonesia , and the United States. In 2022/3 world production of sugar
9594-411: The local pride of each barrio used to take place until the 1990s, when the government stopped them. Placetas lies southwest of its province, next to the borders with the one of Sancti Spíritus . Nearest towns include Zulueta (to the north), Remedios (to the northeast), Cabaiguán and Fomento (to the east), and Santa Clara and Camajuaní (to the west). The springs of Zaza River , that runs from
9711-409: The lowest carbohydrate levels, although milk does contain a high proportion of lactose . Organisms typically cannot metabolize all types of carbohydrate to yield energy. Glucose is a nearly universal and accessible source of energy. Many organisms also have the ability to metabolize other monosaccharides and disaccharides but glucose is often metabolized first. In Escherichia coli , for example,
9828-476: The main organic reactions that involve carbohydrates are: Carbohydrate synthesis is a sub-field of organic chemistry concerned specifically with the generation of natural and unnatural carbohydrate structures. This can include the synthesis of monosaccharide residues or structures containing more than one monosaccharide, known as oligosaccharides . Selective formation of glycosidic linkages and selective reactions of hydroxyl groups are very important, and
9945-512: The meal, but later they become merely table decorations, the most elaborate called trionfi . Several significant sculptors are known to have produced them; in some cases their preliminary drawings survive. Early ones were in brown sugar, partly cast in molds, with the final touches carved. They continued to be used until at least the Coronation Banquet for Edward VII of the United Kingdom in 1903; among other sculptures every guest
10062-403: The method in his 1st century CE medical treatise De Materia Medica : There is a kind of coalesced honey called sakcharon [i.e. sugar] found in reeds in India and Eudaimon Arabia similar in consistency to salt and brittle enough to be broken between the teeth like salt, In the local Indian language, these crystals were called khanda ( Devanagari : खण्ड, Khaṇḍa ), which is the source of
10179-526: The molecules in the open-chain form. Biopolymers of sugars are common in nature. Through photosynthesis, plants produce glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P), a phosphated 3-carbon sugar that is used by the cell to make monosaccharides such as glucose ( C 6 H 12 O 6 ) or (as in cane and beet) sucrose ( C 12 H 22 O 11 ). Monosaccharides may be further converted into structural polysaccharides such as cellulose and pectin for cell wall construction or into energy reserves in
10296-459: The most important in nature as it is the product of photosynthesis in plants) and in biosynthesis . When monosaccharides are not immediately needed, they are often converted to more space-efficient (i.e., less water-soluble) forms, often polysaccharides . In many animals, including humans, this storage form is glycogen , especially in liver and muscle cells. In plants, starch is used for the same purpose. The most abundant carbohydrate, cellulose ,
10413-499: The municipality of Placetas had a population of 65,379. With a total area of 601 km (232 sq mi), it has a population density of 119.5/km (310/sq mi). The city proper has a population of 42,000. The area is primarily a sugar producing region, with three "centrales" sugar producing factories. Placetas also has major railroad industries that operate from its area. Many Placetenos have emigrated to other countries and there are around 2300 people from Placetas residing in
10530-507: The north coast of Brazil, Demarara , and Surinam . It took until 1600 for Brazilian sugar production to exceed that of São Tomé , which was the main center of sugar production in sixteenth century. Sugar was a luxury in Europe until the early 19th century, when it became more widely available, due to the rise of beet sugar in Prussia , and later in France under Napoleon . Beet sugar
10647-440: The outskirts of Placetas to the sea, are located near the town. The river Zaza is currently an environmental preservation area. The municipality borders with Manicaragua , Santa Clara , Camajuaní , Remedios , Cabaiguán and Fomento . Its territory includes the villages of Báez , Benito Juárez, Carbó Serviá, Falcón , Falero, Guaracabulla , Hermanos Ameijeiras, Manzanares, Máximo, Miller, Nazareno, Oliver and Suazo. In 2022,
10764-547: The oxidation of one gram of lipids yields about 38 kJ (9 kcal). The human body stores between 300 and 500 g of carbohydrates depending on body weight, with the skeletal muscle contributing to a large portion of the storage. Energy obtained from metabolism (e.g., oxidation of glucose) is usually stored temporarily within cells in the form of ATP . Organisms capable of anaerobic and aerobic respiration metabolize glucose and oxygen (aerobic) to release energy, with carbon dioxide and water as byproducts. Catabolism
10881-650: The polysaccharides starch and glycogen), or together with another monosaccharide (as in the hetero-polysaccharides sucrose and lactose). Unbound glucose is one of the main ingredients of honey. Glucose is extremely abundant and has been isolated from a variety of natural sources across the world, including male cones of the coniferous tree Wollemia nobilis in Rome, the roots of Ilex asprella plants in China, and straws from rice in California. ^A The carbohydrate value
10998-439: The position of the hydroxyl group (red or green) on the anomeric carbon relative to the CH 2 OH group bound to carbon 5: they either have identical absolute configurations (R,R or S,S) (α), or opposite absolute configurations (R,S or S,R) (β). Monosaccharides are classified according to three different characteristics: the placement of its carbonyl group, the number of carbon atoms it contains, and its chiral handedness. If
11115-402: The principal monosaccharides present in the blood and internal tissues include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Many pentoses and hexoses can form ring structures . In these closed-chain forms, the aldehyde or ketone group remains non-free, so many of the reactions typical of these groups cannot occur. Glucose in solution exists mostly in the ring form at equilibrium , with less than 0.1% of
11232-407: The resultant loss of a molecule of water ( H 2 O ) per bond. Monosaccharides in a closed-chain form can form glycosidic bonds with other monosaccharides, creating disaccharides (such as sucrose ) and polysaccharides (such as starch or cellulose ). Enzymes must hydrolyze or otherwise break these glycosidic bonds before such compounds become metabolized . After digestion and absorption
11349-568: The seventh century. Chinese documents confirm at least two missions to India, initiated in 647 CE, to obtain technology for sugar refining. Nearchus , admiral of Alexander the Great , knew of sugar during the year 325 BC because of his participation in the campaign of India led by Alexander ( Arrian , Anabasis ). In addition to the Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides , the Roman Pliny
11466-406: The simple vs. complex chemical distinction has little value for determining the nutritional quality of carbohydrates. Some simple carbohydrates (e.g., fructose ) raise blood glucose rapidly, while some complex carbohydrates (starches), raise blood sugar slowly. The speed of digestion is determined by a variety of factors including which other nutrients are consumed with the carbohydrate, how the food
11583-533: The simplest carbohydrates in that they cannot be hydrolyzed to smaller carbohydrates. They are aldehydes or ketones with two or more hydroxyl groups. The general chemical formula of an unmodified monosaccharide is (C•H 2 O) n , literally a "carbon hydrate". Monosaccharides are important fuel molecules as well as building blocks for nucleic acids. The smallest monosaccharides, for which n=3, are dihydroxyacetone and D- and L-glyceraldehydes. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The α and β anomers of glucose. Note
11700-401: The straight-chain form. During the conversion from straight-chain form to the cyclic form, the carbon atom containing the carbonyl oxygen, called the anomeric carbon , becomes a stereogenic center with two possible configurations: The oxygen atom may take a position either above or below the plane of the ring. The resulting possible pair of stereoisomers is called anomers . In the α anomer ,
11817-546: The strict sense, " sugar " is applied for sweet, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in human food. The history of the discovery regarding carbohydrates dates back around 10,000 years ago in Papua New Guinea during the cultivation of sugarcane during the Neolithic agricultural revolution. The term "carbohydrate" was first proposed by German chemist Carl Schmidt (chemist) in 1844. In 1856, glycogen ,
11934-438: The term "carbohydrate" (or "carbohydrate by difference") is used for everything other than water, protein, fat, ash, and ethanol. This includes chemical compounds such as acetic or lactic acid , which are not normally considered carbohydrates. It also includes dietary fiber which is a carbohydrate but which does not contribute food energy in humans, even though it is often included in the calculation of total food energy. In
12051-509: The term "carbohydrate" often means any food that is particularly rich in the complex carbohydrate starch (such as cereals, bread and pasta) or simple carbohydrates, such as sugar (found in candy, jams , and desserts). This informality is sometimes confusing since it confounds chemical structure and digestibility in humans. Often in lists of nutritional information , such as the USDA National Nutrient Database ,
12168-456: The term complex carbohydrate to refer to any sort of digestible saccharide present in a whole food, where fiber, vitamins and minerals are also found (as opposed to processed carbohydrates, which provide energy but few other nutrients). The standard usage, however, is to classify carbohydrates chemically: simple if they are sugars ( monosaccharides and disaccharides ) and complex if they are polysaccharides (or oligosaccharides ). In any case,
12285-714: The term is generally understood in the biochemistry sense, which excludes compounds with only one or two carbons and includes many biological carbohydrates which deviate from this formula. For example, while the above representative formulas would seem to capture the commonly known carbohydrates, ubiquitous and abundant carbohydrates often deviate from this. For example, carbohydrates often display chemical groups such as: N -acetyl (e.g., chitin ), sulfate (e.g., glycosaminoglycans ), carboxylic acid and deoxy modifications (e.g., fucose and sialic acid ). Natural saccharides are generally built of simple carbohydrates called monosaccharides with general formula (CH 2 O) n where n
12402-620: The word candy . Indian sailors, who carried clarified butter and sugar as supplies, introduced knowledge of sugar along the various trade routes they travelled. Traveling Buddhist monks took sugar crystallization methods to China. During the reign of Harsha (r. 606–647) in North India , Indian envoys in Tang China taught methods of cultivating sugarcane after Emperor Taizong of Tang (r. 626–649) made known his interest in sugar. China established its first sugarcane plantations in
12519-591: Was abolished , the demand for workers in European colonies in the Caribbean was filled by indentured laborers from the Indian subcontinent . Millions of enslaved or indentured laborers were brought to various European colonies in the Americas, Africa and Asia (as a result of demand in Europe for among other commodities, sugar), influencing the ethnic mixture of numerous nations around the globe. Sugar also led to some industrialization of areas where sugar cane
12636-429: Was 186 Mt, and in 2023/4 an estimated 194 Mt - a surplus of 5 Mt, according to Ragus . Sugar cane accounted for around 21% of the global crop production over the 2000–2021 period. The Americas was the leading region in the production of sugar cane (52% of the world total). Global production of sugarcane in 2020 was 1.9 billion tonnes, with Brazil producing 40% of the world total and India 20% (table). Sugarcane
12753-483: Was a German invention, since, in 1747, Andreas Sigismund Marggraf announced the discovery of sugar in beets and devised a method using alcohol to extract it. Marggraf's student, Franz Karl Achard , devised an economical industrial method to extract the sugar in its pure form in the late 18th century. Achard first produced beet sugar in 1783 in Kaulsdorf , and in 1801, the world's first beet sugar production facility
12870-522: Was another early manufacturer of sugar cubes at his refineries in Liverpool and London. Tate purchased a patent for sugar-cube manufacture from German Eugen Langen , who in 1872 had invented a different method of processing of sugar cubes. Sugar was rationed during World War I , though it was said that "No previous war in history has been fought so largely on sugar and so little on alcohol", and more sharply during World War II . Rationing led to
12987-599: Was established in Cunern , Silesia (then part of Prussia, now Poland ). The works of Marggraf and Achard were the starting point for the sugar industry in Europe, and for the modern sugar industry in general, since sugar was no longer a luxury product and a product almost only produced in warmer climates. Sugar became highly popular and by the 19th century, was found in every household. This evolution of taste and demand for sugar as an essential food ingredient resulted in major economic and social changes. Demand drove, in part,
13104-489: Was first used in the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs publication Dietary Goals for the United States (1977) where it was intended to distinguish sugars from other carbohydrates (which were perceived to be nutritionally superior). However, the report put "fruit, vegetables and whole-grains" in the complex carbohydrate column, despite the fact that these may contain sugars as well as polysaccharides. This confusion persists as today some nutritionists use
13221-845: Was given a sugar crown to take away. In August 1492, Christopher Columbus collected sugar cane samples in La Gomera in the Canary Islands , and introduced it to the New World . The cuttings were planted and the first sugar-cane harvest in Hispaniola took place in 1501. Many sugar mills had been constructed in Cuba and Jamaica by the 1520s. The Portuguese took sugar cane to Brazil. By 1540, there were 800 cane-sugar mills in Santa Catarina Island and another 2,000 on
13338-799: Was grown. For example, in the 1790s Lieutenant J. Paterson, of the Bengal Presidency promoted to the British parliament the idea that sugar cane could grow in British India , where it had started, with many advantages and at less expense than in the West Indies . As a result, sugar factories were established in Bihar in eastern India. During the Napoleonic Wars , sugar-beet production increased in continental Europe because of
13455-566: Was highest in the United States, followed by Germany and the Netherlands. Brown and white granulated sugar are 97% to nearly 100% carbohydrates, respectively, with less than 2% water, and no dietary fiber, protein or fat (table). Brown sugar contains a moderate amount of iron (15% of the Reference Daily Intake in a 100 gram amount, see table), but a typical serving of 4 grams (one teaspoon), would provide 15 calories and
13572-459: Was more usually sold in bags. Sugar cubes were produced in the nineteenth century. The first inventor of a process to produce sugar in cube form was Jakob Christof Rad , director of a sugar refinery in Dačice . In 1841, he produced the first sugar cube in the world. He began sugar-cube production after being granted a five-year patent for the process on 23 January 1843. Henry Tate of Tate & Lyle
13689-479: Was the chief sugar refining and distribution center in Europe. There was a drastic change in the mid-15th century, when Madeira and the Canary Islands were settled from Europe and sugar introduced there. After this an "all-consuming passion for sugar ... swept through society" as it became far more easily available, though initially still very expensive. By 1492, Madeira was producing over 1,400,000 kilograms (3,000,000 lb) of sugar annually. Genoa , one of
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