MOLECULE

Raffinose

Raffinose is a trisaccharide containing glucose, galactose, and fructose units. It belongs to the class of organic compounds known as oligosaccharides. These are carbohydrates made up of 3 to 10 monosaccharide units linked to each other through glycosidic bonds. Raffinose is an extremely weak basic (essentially neutral) compound (based on its pKa). Raffinose exists as a white crystalline powder and has a sweet taste approximately 10% that of sucrose. The raffinose family of oligosaccharides (RFOs) are alpha-galactosyl derivatives of sucrose, and the most common are the trisaccharide raffinose, the tetrasaccharide stachyose, and the pentasaccharide verbascose. RFOs are almost ubiquitous in the plant kingdom, being found in a large variety of seeds from many different families, and they rank second only to sucrose in abundance as soluble carbohydrates. Raffinose (and other RFOs) is non-digestible in humans and other monogastric animals (pigs and poultry) who do not possess the α-GAL (alpha-galactosidase) enzyme to break down raffinose. In the lower intestine of most mammals, raffinose is fermented by gas-producing bacteria that possess the α-GAL enzyme and make short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) (acetic, propionic, butyric acids) as well as the flatulence commonly associated with eating beans and other vegetables. Raffinose can be found in beans, cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, other vegetables, and whole grains. In humans, raffinose is involved in galactose metabolism. Raffinose is one of at least 5 oligosaccharides that are found in cannabis plants (PMID: 6991645). Raffinose is used in skin moisturizers and smoothers, prebiotics (it allegedly promotes growth of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria), and as a food or drink additive. Either raffinose or sucrose can be used as a base substance for sucralose.