Where are reducing sugars found and why?

Question

As in what types of foods

Answer 1

Here are some good links that pretty well describe the types and functions of reducing sugars found in food sources.

Common examples are.....

Glucose, fructose, mannose, maltose and so on and these links have the descriptions about them why they are good reducers.....

1. Read here abot their antioxidant activity and their commercial uses.........

http://www.sugar.ca/english/supportinfo/...

An extract from the above mentioned link...

.............Antioxidant Activity of sugars......

Many carbohydrates are excellent scavengers for metal ions. Glucose, fructose and the sugar alcohols (sorbitol and mannitol), have the ability to block the reactive sites of ions such as copper, iron and, to a lesser extent, cobalt. This characteristic of monosaccharides aids in food preservation by retarding catalytic oxidation reactions. Furthermore, Maillard reaction products are known to have antioxidant properties in food systems. For this reason, some mixtures of Maillard reaction products have been employed in the food industry as food additives for biscuits, cookies and sausages.( extracted from........http://www.sugar.ca/english/supportinfo/...

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2. Here I am including 2-3 more links that I feel useful and have enough information you may wish for......

THE ROLE OF REDUCING SUGAR and the food sources.....

http://food.oregonstate.edu/learn/sugar....

READ here about food content and THE CARBONYL sources (reducing sugars)

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/cs/BlobServer/...