raffinose

1 9.9

A sugar made of three simple sugars found in beans and some seeds

noun
/ˈræfɪnoʊs/

Specialized

: rafinosa

Raffinose is a trisaccharide sugar found in raffinose beets and beans.

Examples

Any disaccharide or polysaccharide that isn't broken down (such as the raffinose and stachyose in beans and many other gas-causing foods) remains inside the gut, providing food for our gut bacteria.

Blog text (5)
Secondly, the carbohydrate component contains raffinose and stachyose, two agalactosides that are not degraded by human digestive enzymes.

Academic text (2001)
Many cereals contain raffinose, which can cause digestive discomfort for some individuals.
When consumed, raffinose may lead to gas production in the intestines due to fermentation by gut bacteria.

Surface Forms

raffinose singular

raffinoses plural

Morphology

raffinose = raffin (semi-transparent) = raffin + ose

The suffix '-ose' signals a sugar class, but the stem 'raffin' is not recognizable to general learners, so the full meaning isn't fully derivable.

Etymology

Raffinose ends with -ose, a common ending for sugars, so the name tells you it is a 'sugar' found in plants. A helpful way to remember the first part raffin- is to think of 'refine' and imagine a fine, small plant sugar in beans and beets, which is why raffinose names that particular sugar.