Sucrose is the scientific name for ordinary table sugar, the sweet white crystals you sprinkle on cereal or stir into lemonade. It's a type of carbohydrate that gives you quick energy and makes foods taste sweet.

Plants make sucrose through photosynthesis, using energy from sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into sugars. Sugar cane and sugar beets contain especially high amounts of sucrose, which is why farmers grow them to produce the sugar we buy at stores. Fruits like apples and oranges also contain sucrose naturally, along with other types of sugars.

When you eat sucrose, your body breaks it down into two simpler sugars: glucose and fructose. Your cells then use these for energy. That's why eating something sugary can give you a quick boost, though too much sugar isn't healthy.

Scientists use the word sucrose to distinguish table sugar from other sweet substances. For example, the sugar in milk (lactose) and the sugar in malt (maltose) are chemically different from sucrose, even though they all taste sweet. When you see “sugar” listed in ingredients on food packages, it usually means sucrose (unless the label says otherwise).