Lactose: Use, measurement, and expression of results

Abstract

Lactose has different uses in the dairy, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Being aware of the different forms of lactose and their concentrations can be very helpful in managing dairy product quality, properties, and manufacturing efficiency. Correct measurement and reporting of lactose concentration in milk and other dairy products will be of increased importance in the future as more value-added uses of lactose are developed and as milk lactose data are used in farm management decision making. Lactose should be reported as anhydrous lactose because lactose data will be used to make increasingly important decisions in dairy processing, dairy product labeling, and milk production in the future. Lactose also plays an important role in milk synthesis within a cow. Milk production factors and dairy cattle breed selection influence the amount of high value fat and protein produced per unit of lactose. If the off-farm value of lactose remains low, more attention may be focused on using ultrafiltration to process milk and leave 50 to 60% of the lactose and water from milk at the farm to recover the energy value of the lactose as feed and reduce the hauling cost of the high value components of milk to a dairy product manufacturing factory. Many methods exist to determine lactose concentration, but the most important methods are enzymatic assays, HPLC, and mid-infrared analysis. New, value-added uses for lactose need to be developed. Consistent and accurate methods of lactose measurement and consistent expression of lactose results will support this development process. Starting in January 2017, the USDA Federal Milk Market Laboratories began reporting lactose content of milk as anhydrous lactose and discontinued the reporting of lactose by difference.

Terahertz Spectroscopic Analysis of Lactose in Infant Formula: Implications for Detection and Quantification

“…Lactose may exist in its amorphous form and crystalline forms of α-lactose monohydrate, α-lactose anhydrous and β-lactose anhydrous. The major form of lactose used in commercial infant formula is α-lactose monohydrate, due to its non-hygroscopicity [ 28 ]. However, it may not be at its maximum purity and may undergo mutarotation or conversion to other anomers during storage [ 28 , 29 ].…”

“…The major form of lactose used in commercial infant formula is α-lactose monohydrate, due to its non-hygroscopicity [ 28 ]. However, it may not be at its maximum purity and may undergo mutarotation or conversion to other anomers during storage [ 28 , 29 ]. This can occur depending on storage conditions such as temperature and humidity.…”

Use of Membrane Technologies in Dairy Industry: An Overview

“…Milk is basically an emulsion of fats in water, accompanied by dissolved and suspended compounds, such as proteins, lactose, mineral substances and organic acids, among others [45,46]. An average composition of whole cow milk is summarized in Table 2.…”

Characterization of an isolated lactase enzyme produced by Bacillus licheniformis ALSZ2 as a potential pharmaceutical supplement for lactose intolerance

“…β-galactosidase is utilized to handle whey disposal concerns on a commercial scale in addition to manufacturing lactose-free goods for lactose-intolerant patients ( Paulo, 2018 ). To avoid the problem of hygroscopic lactose crystallizing in food, β -galactosidase is employed to hydrolyze the lactose in frozen, concentrated sweets ( Portnoy and Barbano, 2021 ). This treatment lowers the lactose level of milk so that lactose-intolerant people can drink it.…”