Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A sugar (C6H12O6) isomeric with dextrose, but distinguished from it by turning the plane of polarization to the left.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) A sirupy variety of sugar, rarely obtained crystallized, occurring widely in honey, ripe fruits, etc., and hence called also fruit sugar; also called fructose. Chemical formula: C6H12O6. It is called levulose, because it rotates the plane of polarization of light to the left, in contrast to dextrose, the other product of the hydrolysis of sucrose.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biochemistry D-fructose, the left-rotating stereoisomer of fructose

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a simple sugar found in honey and in many ripe fruits

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[lev(o)– + –ul(e) + –ose.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Blend of laevus,‎ l, and -ose (latin for "left" + connector "l" + sugar) (left sugar)

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Examples

  • Fructose Fructose, also called levulose, has exactly the same chemical formula as glucose, but the atoms are arranged in a different structure.

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • Fructose Fructose, also called levulose, has exactly the same chemical formula as glucose, but the atoms are arranged in a different structure.

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • The sugar is not all like the common granulated sugar, but in ripe fruits a part is in the form known as levulose or fruit sugar, which is two and a half times sweeter than granulated sugar.

    Human Foods and Their Nutritive Value Harry Snyder

  • The total sugar content in processed foods is often unclear from the ingredients list, where different sugars can be listed separately as sucrose, dextrose, levulose, fructose, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, etc.

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • The total sugar content in processed foods is often unclear from the ingredients list, where different sugars can be listed separately as sucrose, dextrose, levulose, fructose, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, etc.

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • Unquestionably it could have used some form of sugar; perhaps dextrose, such as Thrykar himself could digest — perhaps levulose or fructose or even starch.

    Natives of Space Clement, Hal 1965

  • When a solution of cane sugar is heated with hydrochloric or other dilute mineral acid, two compounds, dextrose and levulose, are formed in accordance with the following equation:

    An Elementary Study of Chemistry William McPherson

  • If we now streak these plates with an organism, _e. g._ a yeast, which saccharifies starch, it is possible to tell whether maltose or levulose and fructose are formed; if the former, only those plates containing _P. phosphorescens_ will become luminous; if the latter, only those containing _P.

    Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy" Various

  • The author maintains that unsatisfactory results are obtained in determinations of starch when the method employed is based upon the inversion of sugar, formed as an intermediate product, since maltose, dextrose, and levulose are partly decomposed by boiling with dilute acids.

    Scientific American Supplement, No. 623, December 10, 1887 Various

  • The cane sugar, however, does not ferment directly: the enzyme in the yeast first transforms the sugar into dextrose and levulose, and these sugars then undergo alcoholic fermentation.

    An Elementary Study of Chemistry William McPherson

Comments

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  • "It is called levulose, because it rotates the plane of polarization of light to the left, in contrast to dextrose, the other product of the hydrolysis of sucrose." --from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

    December 2, 2014

  • (I mention it only because yesterday I was reading this article about the "handedness" of RNA: http://www.quantamagazine.org/20141126-why-rna-is-right-handed/ )

    December 2, 2014