The mol-ecule of the title compound, C(6)H(12)O(6), [systematic name: (2R,3S,4R,5R,6R)-6-(hydroxy-meth-yl)oxane-2,3,4,5-tetrol] adopts a (4)C(1) chair conformation with the anomeric hydroxyl group in the equatorial position. All hydroxyl groups act as donors and acceptors in hydrogen bonding and the mol-ecule is involved in ten inter-molecular O-H⋯O inter-actions [O⋯O = 2.672 (5)-2.776 (4) Å] with eight neighbouring mol-ecules. Two independent O-H⋯O-H⋯ helices extending along the z axis are found in this structure.