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A Greek alpha or beta — a small curved letter — before a sugar's name.
Also known as: Anomeric descriptors, Alpha anomer, Beta anomer, Greek letter before a sugar
α and β distinguish the two forms a sugar takes when its ring closes, differing only at the carbon that was the carbonyl. The difference is why starch is digestible and cellulose is not — same glucose, different anomeric linkage.
Denote the two configurations at the anomeric carbon formed when a sugar cyclises.
Contexts: Laboratory
Are defined by reference to the anomeric reference atom, so the same label means opposite spatial arrangements in D and L sugars.
Contexts: Laboratory
Determine whether a polysaccharide is digestible by humans: starch is α-linked and cellulose β-linked, from the same glucose monomer.
Contexts: Laboratory
A Greek lowercase alpha, a rounded double-curve, or a beta with a descending stroke and two stacked bowls, set before a sugar's name and followed by a hyphen.