Loew, who prepared in 1885 a sweet, unfermentable syrup, which he named formose, C6H120e and, later, by using magnesia instead of lime, he obtained the fermentable methose.
The cyanhydrin is hydrolysable to an acid, the lactone of which may be reduced by sodium amalgam to a glucoheptose, a non-fermentable sugar containing seven carbon atoms. By repeating the process a non-fermentable gluco-octose and a fermentable glucononose may be prepared.
Alcohol is produced by fermentation from vegetable substances containing starch or sugar, from fermentable sugars produced by the hydrolysis of cellulosic bodies, and synthetically from calcium carbide and from the ethylene contained in coal and coke-oven gases.
Components contributing most to the caries process are fermentable carbohydrates including cooked starches, added or naturally occurring sugars.
Honey's fermentable carbohydrates, including oligosaccharides, may be the keys to this action.