Research trend of lactulose production from lactose

Ja Hyun Lee, Hah Young Yoo, Da Un Jung, Charnho Park, Yoon Seok Song, Chulhwan Park, Seung Wook Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Lactulose is well known for functional component in the food and pharmaceutical field and utilized in a wide variety of foods as a bifidus factor or functional ingredient for intestinal regulation. Lactulose synthesis can be classified into chemical and biological methods. In chemical methods, lactulose is synthesized by alkaline isomerization, but it has many disadvantages such as including product purification, lactulose degradation, side reactions and waste management. Therefore, the enzymatic synthesis methods were recently studied to solve these problems. β-galactosidase is a important enzyme in the dairy industry, because of the production of lactose-hydrolyzed products. Also, β- galactosidases can be utilized to synthesize lactulose from lactose by a trans-galactosylation reaction, using fructose as a galactosyl acceptor. However, the synthesis of lactulose from lactose is economically not suitable due to high levels of lactose price. This review summarizes the current state of lactulose production by chemical and biological processes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)407-412
Number of pages6
JournalKorean Chemical Engineering Research
Volume52
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014 Aug

Keywords

  • Enzymatic Synthesis
  • Functional Component
  • Lactose
  • Lactulose
  • Whey

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemical Engineering

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