Excerpt:
In an investigation of the minor sugars of honey at this laboratory, examination by paper chromatography indicated that several oligosaccharides are present. These have not yet been identified. Since honey is the product of the reaction of honeybee (1) invertase with nectar sugars [sucrose, glucose, and fructose (2)], a comparison is being made of the sugars of honey with the oligosaccharides produced by the action of this invertase on sucrose. Considerable attention has recently been given to the production of oligosaccharide intermediates by transfructosidation during the action of yeast invertase on sucrose (3-6), but no reports of intermediate oligosaccharides formed by the honey invertase-sucrose reaction have been found in the literature.
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