136 Principles of Food Science energy the plant uses for reproduction. As the seeds develop, the carbohydrates start mostly as sugars. Then they gradually change into more complex starches. This is why baby corn and petite peas are sweeter than their full-sized counterparts. See 8-2. Sugars The simplest types of the carbohydrates are called sugars. In organic chemistry, the name saccharide has been given to all carbohydrates classified as sugars. Sugar was the common name used before organic chemists developed the naming system presently used to identify organic compounds. Structure Sugars are organic compounds. That simply means sugars contain carbon. All living organisms are composed of organic, or carbon-based, compounds. Organic compounds are grouped by their structure. For example, all carbohydrates contain hydroxyl groups. A hydroxyl group is an oxygen atom and a hydrogen atom bonded together. A hydroxyl group is represented by the chemical symbol -OH. As you know, oxygen atoms prefer to bond with two atoms. The second oxygen bond in a hydroxyl group is formed with a carbon atom, as represented in the following diagrams: C H O C OH or Monosaccharides A simple sugar is a molecule that cannot be broken down into a smaller molecule without changing its basic nature. The simple sugars are known as monosaccharides, or sugars that contain one basic molecule. Examples of monosaccharides found widely in food products are fructose, glucose, and galactose. In organic chemistry, the names of saccharides end in -ose. Fructose is a monosaccharide found widely in fruits and honey. Glucose is the most abundant of the sugars, and it is people’s basic energy source. It occurs naturally in blood, grapes, and corn, 8-3. The body converts all sugars and starches into glucose before using the glucose for energy. Galactose can only be found in animals and humans and is one of the basic sugars found in milk. All these sugars have six carbon atoms, twelve hydrogen atoms, and six oxygen atoms. Originally, scientists believed sugar molecules existed primarily in a linear form. The carbon atoms were thought to form a line. The hydrogen and oxygen atoms were believed to branch off the carbon atoms at different angles. Scientists now know that most simple sugars in nature have a central ring structure. Constructing three-dimensional models of sugars can give you a better idea of how the atoms align with one another. Fructose has a five-member ring. Glucose and galactose have six-member rings. illetus/iStock/Getty Images Plus 8-2 Tender young kernels of corn are sweeter than mature kernels because they contain a higher percentage of sugars. pjohnson1/E+/Getty Images 8-3 Glucose is one of the sugars found in grapes. Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.