There is a great interest in developing suitable alternatives for the utilization of whey, a by-product from cheese production that contains high concentration of lactose. These alternatives allow the transformation of whey into several products, reducing its environmental impact and providing gains to the dairy industry through the development of new products. The goal of this study was to optimize the synthesis of lactulose from the permeate of bovine whey. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to investigate the effect of two parameters, time of reaction (90, 135 and 180 min) and isomerization type (sodium sulfite, boric acid and β-galactosidase enzyme), aiming to obtain the highest reaction yield. According to the response surface and desirability function, the best experimental conditions for lactulose synthesis (where it was obtained 50.06 g of lactulose per 100 g of whey powder) consisted of a reaction time of 180 min with the use of enzymatic isomerization.

Produção e caracterização de farinha e óleo de resíduo de curimba (prochilodus lineatus)Production and characterization of curimba flour and oil residue (prochilodus lineatus

No abstract

Whey (milk serum) is produced by the dairy industry during the manufacture of cheese. In addition to being a valuable source of functional and nutritional proteins, whey also presents almost all the lactose from the original whole milk. However, many industries still consider the whey as an effluent, which can cause serious environmental problems when not properly treated. Therefore, it is important to develop alternatives for the adequate use of whey. The lactose obtained from whey permeate can be converted into lactulose, a prebiotic which may be metabolized in the intestine by probiotic bacteria, such as Lactobacillus sp. and Bifidobacterium sp., through enzymatic isomerization or by using alkaline catalysts, with minimal secondary reactions and high yield. This manuscript provides information about various techniques used to produce lactulose, its purification and analysis, as well as its mechanisms of action and alternative applications in food products and medicines.Keywords: lactose isomerization; lactulose; prebiotics; reuse of industrial byproducts; whey permeate.Practical Application: Synthesizing and quantifying lactulose from whey permeate, and use in the dairy industry.

No abstract