“…Our research, using a high b-galactosidase producer Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus strain ATCC 11842, focussed on the economic (Bury & Jelen, 2000) and technical (Kreft, Roth, & Jelen, 2001) feasibility of the process; optimization of the growth media (Vasiljevic & Jelen, 2001) and of the mechanical disruption process (Bury, Jelen, & Kalab, 2001;Geciova, Giesova, & Jelen, 2002); suppression of competing enzymatic reactions (Vasiljevic & Jelen, 2002); stability of the enzyme during the hydrolysis process (Kreft & Jelen, 2000); and sensory aspects of the final products (Vasiljevic, Wismer, & Jelen, 2003). Clearly, before this approach could become successful, additional research would be needed, including a search for a more effective microbial producer of the enzyme and/or involving genetic engineering leading to significant overproduction of the b-galactosidase and suppression of some of the other enzymes catalyzing potentially undesirable reactions.…”