A disaccharide sugar found in gentian plants that consists of two glucose molecules linked together.
From gentian (a plant name from Latin gentiana, possibly named after Gentius, an ancient Illyrian king) plus -biose (indicating a two-sugar compound). This is a modern biochemical term created by scientists studying plant chemistry.
Gentian plants are brilliantly blue and have been used medicinally for thousands of years—Gentius himself supposedly discovered the healing powers! Gentiobiose is just one of many compounds in these plants that make them taste incredibly bitter, which is why gentian is used in digestive bitters.
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