special sense designed specifically to detect them Sugars taste sweet, and sweetness is a nearly universal source of pleasure It’s the essence of the dishes we serve at the end of the meal, as well as of candies and confections Sugars and their properties are described in detail in chapter 12 Oligosaccharides The oligosaccharides (“several-unit sugars”) raffinose, stachyose, and verbascose are 3-, 4-, and 5-ring sugars, respectively, all too large to trigger our sweet detectors, so they’re tasteless They’re commonly found in the seeds and other organs of plants, where they make up part of the energy supply These sugars all affect our digestive system, thanks to the fact that we don’t have digestive enzymes capable of breaking them down into single sugars that can be absorbed by the intestine As a result, the oligosaccharides are not digested and pass intact into the colon, where various bacteria do digest them, producing large quantities of carbon dioxide and other gases in the process (p 486) Phospholipid emulsifiers Phospholipids are diglycerides, and are excellent emulsifiers, molecules that make possible a stable mixture of oil and water Unlike the triglycerides of fat and oil, they have a polar, watercompatible head Such emulsifiers bury their fatty-acid tails in oil droplets, while their water-compatible, electrically charged heads project from the surface and block the droplets from contacting each other and coalescing Polysaccharides: Starch, Pectins, Gums ...not digested and pass intact into the colon, where various bacteria do digest them, producing large quantities of carbon dioxide and other gases in the process (p 486) Phospholipid emulsifiers... emulsifiers bury their fatty-acid tails in oil droplets, while their water-compatible, electrically charged heads project from the surface and block the droplets from contacting each other and coalescing... Phospholipids are diglycerides, and are excellent emulsifiers, molecules that make possible a stable mixture of oil and water Unlike the triglycerides of fat and oil, they have a polar, watercompatible