CBSE Class 12-science Answered
A reducing sugar is any sugar that, in basic solution, forms some aldehyde or ketone. This allows the sugar to act as a reducing agent, for example in the Maillard reaction and Benedict's reaction.
Reducing sugars include glucose, fructose, glyceraldehyde, lactose, arabinose and maltose. All monosaccharides which contain ketone groups are known as ketoses, and those which contain aldehyde groups are known as aldoses. Significantly, sucrose, and trehalose are not reducing sugars.
Sugars having acetal or ketal linkages are not reducing sugars, as they do not form free aldehyde chains. They therefore do not react with any of the reducing-sugar test solutions. However, a non-reducing sugar can be hydrolysed using dilute hydrochloric acid to convert the acetal or ketal into a hemiacetal or hemiketal. After hydrolysis and neutralization of the acid, the product may be a reducing sugar that gives normal reactions with the test solutions.