Difference Between Glucose and Dextrose

Glucose vs Dextrose

Glucose and dextrose are two of the most often confused terms. Many food labels are marked with either glucose or dextrose. In the hospital setting, the term dextrose is usually used even if the dextrose’s main aim is really to maintain the blood glucose level of the patient. This is most likely because the majority or almost all national and international pharmacopeias use the term ‘dextrose’ to refer to glucose and not use the word ‘glucose’ itself.

With regard to labeling products, some companies label their food ingredient list with the term dextrose rather than glucose because they believe that the latter has a negative connotation. Perhaps, more people believe that glucose is associated with too much calories thereby making one become fat or obese. As a consumer, you must be made aware that marking the food product with the word ‘dextrose’ really means that it’s glucose.

In the realm of pharmaceutical products, they often use the other way around ‘“ glucose instead of dextrose ‘“ just to trim down the confusion. In addition, many medical practitioners nowadays use glucose rather than dextrose for the same goal of finally using the term ‘glucose’ as the standard word for glucose and not ‘dextrose,’ which only adds up to the confusion. Thus, the preference in using either term is purely because of marketing reasons. The careful use of both terms can spell the difference in the product’s marketing success.

The two also have the same chemical formula ‘“ C6H12O6 making them practically the same. This formula means that glucose and dextrose are hexoses ‘“ 6 carbon atoms are linked to 12 hydrogen atoms and further bounded with 6 more oxygen atoms. This is the tricky part since there can be different manners in which the said atoms are bound. The end result is the formation of distinct chemical compounds that have their own respective (unique chemical properties) and behave differently from other compound formations. Glucose is an aldohexose while dextrose is the name given to a glucose monohydrate compound. Aldohexose have compounds known as aldehydes that are placed at the premiere position of the molecule. Aldehydes appear as a carbon atom linked to a hydrogen atom and, at the other side, double linked to another oxygen atom. Therefore, the dextrose and glucose have different atomic arrangement in space and may appear as ‘mirror images’ to one another.

Overall, although both has the same chemical formula and are simple monosaccharides (sugars) glucose and dextrose still differ in the following aspects:

1. Dextrose is a term commonly used in many pharmacopeias, in almost all hospitals and other food products while glucose is used in pharmaceutical products.

2. Glucose, in food product labels, is often given a negative connotation compared to dextrose.

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