Studies in Natural Product Chemistry 
Subtitle: Structure and Chemistry, Part C (Studies in Natural Products Chemistry)
Publisher: Elsevier Science
Published: January 1, 1995
Language: eng
Number of pages: 594
ISBN-13: 9780444820839
First sentence: There is an insatiable desire by humans for sweet substances, more so for the hedonic delight of the sweet taste sensation rather than for caloric needs (1) In fact, evidence has been put forth that even a five-month-old human fetus has a liking for sweet substances (2) Sucrose, the most abundant of all sugars, has been known and used as a sweetener and food item since as far back as 2,000 B C It is one of 100 or so saccharides that have been demonstrated to exhibit a sweet taste, and is by far the most widely used sugar (3) Sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum L) and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L) are the two major sources of sucrose The world production of sucrose from these two sources exceeded 100 million metric tons in 1988 (4).