Mannose
Mannose is a sugar monomer of the hexose series of carbohydrates. Mannose enters the carbohydrate metabolism stream by phosphorylation and conversion to fructose-6-phosphate.
D-Mannose, which appears in some fruits including cranberry, may help prevent the adhesion of bacteria to tissues of the urinary tract and bladder.
Mannose can be formed by the oxidation of mannitol. The root of both these words is manna, the food supplied to the Israelites during their journey through Arabia. Manna is a sweet secretion of several trees and shrubs, such as fraxinus ornus.
D-Mannose has the same configuration at its penultimate carbon as D-glyceraldehyde.