Stachyose
Encyclopedia
Stachyose is a tetrasaccharide
consisting of two α--galactose
units, one α--glucose
unit, and one β--fructose
unit sequentially linked as gal(α1→6)gal(α1→6)glc(α1↔2β)fru. Stachyose is naturally found in numerous vegetable
s (e.g. green bean
s, soybean
s and other beans) and plants.
Stachyose is less sweet than sucrose
, at about 28% on a weight basis. It is mainly used as a bulk sweetener or for its functional oligosaccharide properties. Stachyose is not completely digestible by humans and delivers 1.5 to 2.4 kcal
/g (6 to 10 kJ/g).
Tetrasaccharide
A tetrasaccharide is a carbohydrate which gives upon hydrolysis four molecules of the same or different monosaccharides. For example, stachyose upon hydrolysis gives one molecule each of glucose and fructose and two molecules of galactose. The general formula of a tetrasaccharide is typically...
consisting of two α--galactose
Galactose
Galactose , sometimes abbreviated Gal, is a type of sugar that is less sweet than glucose. It is a C-4 epimer of glucose....
units, one α--glucose
Glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar and an important carbohydrate in biology. Cells use it as the primary source of energy and a metabolic intermediate...
unit, and one β--fructose
Fructose
Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a simple monosaccharide found in many plants. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorbed directly into the bloodstream during digestion. Fructose was discovered by French chemist Augustin-Pierre Dubrunfaut in 1847...
unit sequentially linked as gal(α1→6)gal(α1→6)glc(α1↔2β)fru. Stachyose is naturally found in numerous vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s (e.g. green bean
Green bean
Green beans , also known as French beans , are the unripe fruit of any kind of bean, including the yardlong bean, the hyacinth bean, the winged bean, and especially the common bean , whose pods are also usually called string beans in the northeastern and western United States, but can also be...
s, soybean
Soybean
The soybean or soya bean is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean which has numerous uses...
s and other beans) and plants.
Stachyose is less sweet than sucrose
Sucrose
Sucrose is the organic compound commonly known as table sugar and sometimes called saccharose. A white, odorless, crystalline powder with a sweet taste, it is best known for its role in human nutrition. The molecule is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose with the molecular formula...
, at about 28% on a weight basis. It is mainly used as a bulk sweetener or for its functional oligosaccharide properties. Stachyose is not completely digestible by humans and delivers 1.5 to 2.4 kcal
Calorie
The calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. It was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat, entering French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule...
/g (6 to 10 kJ/g).