Sucrose (table sugar) is made by joining two specific monomers, glucose and fructose. Different monosaccharide pairs produce many of the common disaccharide sugars we associate with food, including sucrose, maltose (malt sugar, two glucose monomers) and lactose (milk sugar, glucose and galactose monomers).
Spikenard, also called nard, nardin, and muskroot, is a class of aromatic amber-colored essential oil derived from Nardostachys jatamansi, a flowering plant of the valerian family which grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India. The oil has been used over centuries as a perfume, a traditional medicine, or in religious ceremonies across a wide territory from India to Europe. Catholic Church iconography uses spikenard to represent Saint Joseph. With this meaning, Pope Francis has included
Perhaps their smell is so strong that it overwhelms or overpowers the pathogenic microbes, which flee in terror! Yes, aromatic medicinal substances such as Spikenard Oil are legendary, and have a long history of use in medicine, both ancient and modern. In the ancient world, the Egyptians were especially famous for their use of aromatics, both in perfumery and in medicine, and in the embalming of their mummies.