The
suffix -ose ( or ) is used in
biochemistry
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
to form the names of
sugars. This Latin suffix means "full of", "abounding in", "given to", or "like".
ose , Define -ose at Dictionary.com
/ref> Numerous systems exist to name specific sugars more descriptively.
Monosaccharides, the simplest sugars, may be named according to the number of carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon mak ...
atoms in each molecule of the sugar: pentose
In chemistry, a pentose is a monosaccharide (simple sugar) with five carbon atoms. The chemical formula of many pentoses is , and their molecular weight is 150.13 g/mol.[hexose
In chemistry, a hexose is a monosaccharide (simple sugar) with six carbon atoms. The chemical formula for all hexoses is C6H12O6, and their molecular weight is 180.156 g/mol.
Hexoses exist in two forms, open-chain or cyclic, that easily convert ...]
is a six-carbon monosaccharide. Aldehyde
In organic chemistry, an aldehyde () is an organic compound containing a functional group with the structure . The functional group itself (without the "R" side chain) can be referred to as an aldehyde but can also be classified as a formyl grou ...
monosaccharides may be called aldoses; ketone monosaccharides may be called ketose
A ketose is a monosaccharide containing one ketone group per molecule. The simplest ketose is dihydroxyacetone, which has only three carbon atoms. It is the only ketose with no optical activity. All monosaccharide ketoses are reducing sugars, be ...
s.
Larger sugars such as disaccharide
A disaccharide (also called a double sugar or ''biose'') is the sugar formed when two monosaccharides are joined by glycosidic linkage. Like monosaccharides, disaccharides are simple sugars soluble in water. Three common examples are sucrose, la ...
s and polysaccharides can be named to reflect their qualities. Lactose, a disaccharide found in milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...
, gets its name from the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word for milk combined with the sugar suffix; its name means "milk sugar". The polysaccharide that makes up plant starch is named amylose
Amylose is a polysaccharide made of α-D-glucose units, bonded to each other through α(1→4) glycosidic bonds. It is one of the two components of starch, making up approximately 20–30%. Because of its tightly packed helical structure, amylose ...
, or "starch sugar"; see amyl
Amyl may refer to:
* Amylum or starch, a carbohydrate
** Amylopectin, a polymer of glucose found in plants; one of two components of starch
** Amylose, a helical polymer made of α-D-glucose units; one of two components of starch
* Pentyl, a five- ...
.
There are these theories about the origin of the ''-ose'' suffix:-
# Derived from glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, u ...
, an important hexose whose name came from Greek γλυκύς = "sweet".
# Derived from sucrose, whose name came from Latin ''sucrum'' = "sugar" plus the common Latin adjective-forming suffix ''-ōsus''; Latin ''sucrosus'' would mean "sugary".
References
{{Orgchemsuffixes
ose