Lactose Hydrolysis in Milk and Dairy Whey Using Microbial β-Galactosidases

Abstract

This work aimed at evaluating the influence of enzyme concentration, temperature, and reaction time in the lactose hydrolysis process in milk, cheese whey, and whey permeate, using two commercial β-galactosidases of microbial origins. We used Aspergillus oryzae (at temperatures of 10 and 55°C) and Kluyveromyces lactis (at temperatures of 10 and 37°C) β-galactosidases, both in 3, 6, and 9 U/mL concentrations. In the temperature of 10°C, the K. lactis β-galactosidase enzyme is more efficient in the milk, cheese whey, and whey permeate lactose hydrolysis when compared to A. oryzae. However, in the enzyme reaction time and concentration conditions evaluated, 100% lactose hydrolysis was not reached using the K. lactis β-galactosidase. The total lactose hydrolysis in whey and permeate was obtained with the A. oryzae enzyme, when using its optimum temperature (55°C), at the end of a 12 h reaction, regardless of the enzyme concentration used. For the lactose present in milk, this result occurred in the concentrations of 6 and 9 U/mL, with the same time and temperature conditions. The studied parameters in the lactose enzymatic hydrolysis are critical for enabling the application of β-galactosidases in the food industry.

Improving polyhydroxyalkanoate production from inexpensive carbon sources by genetic approaches: a review

“…Whey is composed (percentage of weight) of 94% water, 4.5% lactose, < 1% protein, < 1% ash, and < 1% fat. In recent years, to reduce BOD, the recovery of lactose and its use became critical . About 5–10% of the available whey is used to obtain higher grade lactose to be used for pharmaceutical purposes .…”

“…In recent years, to reduce BOD, the recovery of lactose and its use became critical. 8,9 About 5-10% of the available whey is used to obtain higher grade lactose to be used for pharmaceutical purposes. 10 Other possible promising applications of whey as feedstock could be the biotechnological production of biofuels (e.g., ethanol), enzymes, and bioplastics (e.g., PHAs).…”

Enzymatic conversion of milk lactose to prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides to produce low lactose yogurt

“…Several efforts have been conducted to produce functional dairy products like yogurt through adding probiotics and prebiotics, that is, inulin and FOS (Stephanie & Sharareh, ) and corn fiber, polydextrose, and chicory inulin (Allgeyer et al, ) to improve consumer acceptability. The phenomenon of production of self‐sweetening agents may also be used to produce sweet dairy products without adding sucrose (Dutra Rosolen et al, ; Husain, ) which will also reduce the production cost. Furthermore, the transgalactosylation in milk also produce prebiotic GalOS whose utilization in routine life have several confirmed and evidenced based health impacts like modulation of immune system, improve bioavailability of essential minerals, bifidogenic effect, inhibiting pathogenic bacteria, and relief in various bowl‐infections (Slavin, ).…”

“…Most of the efforts conducted so far to produce low lactose or lactose‐free milk and dairy products are limited to drinking milk (Chen, Hsu, & Chiang, ; Rodriguez‐Colinas, Fernandez‐Arrojo, Ballesteros, & Plou, ), dried butter milk (Čurda, Rudolfová, Štětina, & Dryák, ), and whey products (Dutra Rosolen, Gennari, Volpato, & Volken de Souza, ); however, very few examples are available to produce consumer preferred dairy products like yogurt, cheese, ice cream, etc. The aim of this work was to convert milk lactose to prebiotic GalOS through transgalactosylation, production of yogurt from prebiotic milk and evaluation of its physico‐chemical and organoleptic properties for 28 days.…”

Whey to Vodka

“…A common method of lactose hydrolysis in dairy product production is the addition of lactase, an exogenous enzyme belonging to the β-galactosidases family [22][23][24]. The addition of this enzyme requires no additional processing equipment and lactase is widely available.…”