Chemistry
If ever a sweetener could be considered ubiquitous, it would be dextrose, often referred to as “grape sugar” or “blood sugar”. It is a sugar occurring widely in nature – in honey and many fruits for example. As a constituent of cellulose, starch and glycogen, it is found in all plants and animals.
Just like sugar, dextrose consists of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. However, no further comparison is possible, since several features differentiate dextrose from sugar. A number of important differences are, in large part, due to their different molecular weights (sucrose: 342; dextrose: 180).
Dextrose is a synonym of D-glucose and refers to the pure, crystalline monosaccharide obtained after a total hydrolysis of starch. It exists in two forms — dextrose monohydrate which contains one molecule crystal water in contrast to anhydrous dextrose, which contains none.
| Monohydrate | Anhydrous | |
| Formula | C6H12O6H2O | C6H12O6 |
| Molecular weight | 198 | 180 |
| Dextrose content (% on D.B.) | Min. 99.5 | Min. 99.5 |
| Moisture % | 8.0 - 9.5 % | Max. 1.0 % |
| Melting point °C (°F) | 83 (181) | 146 (295) |
| Heat of solution (25°C) J/g | -105.5 | -59.3 |
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