L-Arabinose (L-Ara)

L-arabinose, a kind of aldopentoses, is a low-calorie sweetener that inhibits sucrase activity and prevents increase of blood glucose. Therefore, it can prevent fat accumulation and acts against high blood glucose disease. L-arabinose, more common than D-arabinose in nature, can be used as pharmaceutical intermediate, preparing culture medium and be used for synthesis in the flavor industry. Arabinose is an aldopentose – a monosaccharide containing five carbon atoms, and including an aldehyde (CHO) functional group. For biosynthetic reasons, most saccharides are almost always more abundant in nature as the "D"-form, or structurally analogous to D-glyceraldehyde.[note 1] However, L-arabinose is in fact more common than D-arabinose in nature and is found in nature as a component of biopolymers such as hemicellulose and pectin. The L-arabinose operon is a very important operon in molecular biology and bioengineering.