What is the structural feature of glucose that makes it a reducing sugar?

Question

Given below are two statements:
Statement I: Sucrose is dextrorotatory. However, sucrose upon hydrolysis gives a solution having mixture of products. This solution shows laevorotation.
Statement II: Hydrolysis of sucrose gives glucose and fructose. Since the laevorotation of glucose is more than the dextrorotation of fructose, the resulting solution becomes laevorotatory.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below.

Answer 1

Glucose functions as a reducing sugar due to the presence of an aldehyde group in its open-chain configuration. This aldehyde group enables glucose to transfer electrons, thereby reducing other substances, a key property of reducing sugars. While glucose adopts a cyclic form that creates a hemiacetal, its open-chain structure reveals the aldehyde group.

What is the structural feature of glucose that makes it a reducing sugar?

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