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maltose

 
Dictionary: mal·tose   (môl'tōs', -tōz') pronunciation
n.
A white crystalline sugar, C12H22O11, formed during the digestion of starch. Also called malt sugar.

[French, from EnglishMALT .]


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An oligosaccharide, known as malt sugar, a reducing disaccharide (see illustration). It is fermentable by yeast in the presence of D-glucose.

Formula for maltose (α form; * indicates reducing group).
Formula for maltose (α form; * indicates reducing group).

The action of animal (salivary and pancreatic) as well as plant (germinating cereals, sweet potato) amylases on starch, dextrin, and glycogen produces maltose as the main end product. Maltose is hydrolyzed by acids and the enzyme maltase to two molecules of D-glucose. See also Glucose; Maltase; Oligosaccharide.


Food and Nutrition: maltose
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Malt sugar, or maltobiose, a disaccharide consisting of two glucose units linked α1-4. Hydrolysed by maltase. Does not occur in foods (unless specifically added as malt) but formed during the digestion of starch. It is one-third as sweet as sucrose. First used to sweeten foods by the Chinese in the seventh century.

Food and Fitness: maltose
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A double sugar (disaccharide) consisting of two glucose molecules. Maltose forms when starch is broken down in the gut. It is digested readily into its component glucose molecules in the presence of the enzyme maltase.

[MAHL-tohs] Also called malt sugar, this disaccharide plays an important role in the fermentation of alcohol by converting starch to sugar. It also occurs when enzymes react with starches (such as wheat flour) to produce carbon dioxide gas (which is what makes most bread doughs rise).

Dental Dictionary: maltose
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n

Malt sugar, a disaccharide formed in the hydrolysis of starch and consisting of two glucose residues bound by an α(1, 4)-glycoside link.

A disaccharide made from two glucose molecules. It occurs in malt extract, an energy-rich food used by some athletes.

 
maltose (môl'tōs) or malt sugar, crystalline disaccharide (see carbohydrate). It has the same empirical formula (C12H22O11) as sucrose and lactose but differs from both in structure (see isomer). Maltose is produced from starch by hydrolysis in the presence of diastase, an enzyme present in malt. Maltose is hydrolyzed to glucose by maltase, an enzyme present in yeast; the glucose thus formed may be fermented by another enzyme in yeast to produce ethanol. Maltose is important in the brewing of beer. It is an easily digested food.


A sugar (disaccharide) formed when starch is hydrolyzed by amylase.

Wikipedia: Maltose
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Maltose
Maltose cyclic horizontal.png
IUPAC name
Other names 4-O-α-D-Glucopyranosyl-D-glucose
Identifiers
CAS number 69-79-4 Yes check.svgY,(α- or β-isomer)
PubChem 6255
EC-number 200-716-5
ChemSpider ID 388329
Properties[1]
Molecular formula C12H22O11
Molar mass 342.30 g/mol
Appearance white powder or crystals
Density 1.54 g/cm3
Melting point

160–165 °C (anhydrous)
102-103 °C (monohydrate)

Solubility in water 1.080 g/L (20 °C)
Chiral rotation [α]D +140.7º (H2O, c = 10)
Hazards
MSDS External MSDS
EU Index not listed
Related compounds
Related Sucrose
Lactose
Trehalose
Cellobiose
 Yes check.svgY (what is this?)  (verify)
Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Infobox references

Maltose, or malt sugar, is a disaccharide formed from two units of glucose joined with an α(1→4) linkage. It is the second member of an important biochemical series of glucose chains. The addition of another glucose unit yields maltotriose; further additions will produce dextrins (also called maltodextrins) and eventually starch (glucose polymer).

Maltose can be broken down into two glucose molecules by hydrolysis. In living organisms, the enzyme maltase can achieve this very rapidly. In the laboratory, heating with a strong acid for several minutes will produce the same result.

The production of maltose from germinating cereals, such as barley, is an important part of the brewing process. When barley is malted, it is brought into a condition in which the concentration of maltose-producing amylases has been maximized. Mashing is the process by which these amylases convert the cereal's starches into maltose. Metabolism of maltose by yeast during fermentation then leads to the production of ethanol and carbon dioxide.

The structure of β-maltose.


Maltose as food

Plain maltose has a sweet taste, about half as sweet as glucose and about one-sixth as sweet as fructose.

Relativesweetness.png


Maltose syrup

In Southern China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, maltose is a common ingredient in confectionery. The most common way to consume it is to put a layer of maltose between two pieces of biscuits (usually crackers).

Maltose with biscuits


[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Weast, Robert C., ed. (1981), CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (62nd ed.), Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, p. C-367, ISBN 0-8493-0462-8 .

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