Q 01/05

Which sugar is a component of the antigens on red blood cells that determine your blood group?

A) Ribose

B) Galactose

C) Maltose

D) Sucrose

Answer · why

B) Galactose

Galactose. In people with type B blood it is the sugar that caps a chain of sugars on the cell surface; in type A the cap is a close chemical cousin i...

Q 02/05

What is the browning of sugar under high heat, which gives crème brûlée its crisp top, called?

A) Searing

B) Caramelization

C) The Maillard reaction

D) Flambéing

Answer · why

B) Caramelization

Caramelization. Heat alone breaks the sugar down into the complex compounds that give caramel its brown colour and rich flavour, whereas the Maillard ...

Q 03/05

As of 2022, which country grew the largest share of the world's sugarcane, close to 40%?

A) India

B) Thailand

C) Brazil

D) China

Answer · why

C) Brazil

Brazil. Much of its cane never becomes sugar at all: it is fermented into ethanol, the fuel that the country's flex-fuel cars can run on.

Q 04/05

Sugarcane is a giant member of which plant family?

A) The legumes

B) The palms

C) The nightshades

D) The grasses

Answer · why

D) The grasses

The grasses. Sugarcane is kin to maize, wheat and rice, but it stores its sugar in a jointed stalk that can stand up to seven metres tall.

Q 05/05

Sugarcane's main species is thought to have been first domesticated on which large island between Asia and Australia?

A) Borneo

B) Sri Lanka

C) Sumatra

D) New Guinea

Answer · why

D) New Guinea

New Guinea. Papuan farmers there bred the thick, sweet cane, and Austronesian seafarers later carried it west across the islands of Southeast Asia.