What does levulose mean?
Levulose is an alternative name for fructose, the simple sugar naturally present in fruit, honey, and other foods. Chemically, it is a monosaccharide and one of the three principal sugars that combine to form the disaccharides commonly found in food. Although the name remains valid, it is much less common than “fructose,” especially in contemporary British English, and tends to occur in older scientific writing or specialized American contexts. The unusual name reflects the historical classification of sugars according to the direction in which they rotate polarized light: levulose was described as left-rotating, in contrast to right-rotating sugars. For most modern readers, the essential fact is that levulose and fructose refer to the same sugar. Recognizing the older term can be useful when reading scientific papers, historical recipes, or technical sources that predate the widespread adoption of “fructose.”
nounLevulose is another name for fructose, a simple sugar found in fruit, honey, and many other foods. The term occurs chiefly in older, scientific, and American usage.
- A less common name for the monosaccharide fructose, especially in older scientific writing and American usage.
"Fructose, also called levulose, is the monosugar found in honey."
"The laboratory analyzed the levulose content of several samples of fruit juice."
"In older medical literature, levulose is used as an alternative term for fructose."
Rare; in most modern writing, the word is used almost exclusively in the singular.
"The researchers measured the levuloses present in the samples."
Levulose was named for its leftward polarization: the “lev-” prefix marks the opposite orientation from the right-rotating sugar once called dextrose.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of levulose
Levulose is a 19th-century formation combining Latin laevus, meaning “left,” with the chemical suffix -ose, meaning “sugar.” The name referred to its leftward optical rotation, distinguishing it from sugars with a rightward rotation, including an older form of the name dextrose for glucose.
How levulose is actually used
Levulose is uncommon today, particularly in British English, where “fructose” is normally preferred. It is most likely to appear in older scientific, medical, or food-production literature.
Easily confused with levulose
Dextrose is an older name for glucose, whereas levulose is another name for fructose.