Lactose

Paper Summary:

This paper relates that lactose, an important and well-understood component of milk, provides an important source of nutrition during development, and, for individuals without lactose intolerance, milk often continues to be an important part of a healthy and varied adult diet. The author points out that lactose intolerance is a common issue for much of the world's population, especially people of Asian and non-Western European decent, but a large number of Europeans can easily digest lactose. The paper relates that, in the Western society, lactose (within milk) is used within a wide variety of milk products, such as cheeses, cottage cheese, sour cream, and yogurts; in addition, milk is used in a wide variety of other food products, including breads, pizzas, ice cream products, and even cereals.

From the Paper:

"In structure, lactose is a white crystalline disaccharide that is comprised of two sugars that are bound together: glucose and galactose. Glucose and galactose are monosaccharides. Lactose has the same chemical formula as sucrose and maltose (C12H22O11). However, lactose differs from sucrose and maltose in structure. When hydrolyzed, lactose yields D-glucose and D-galactose. This hydrolysis is catalyzed by lactase within the digestive tract (Miller). Thy hydrolysis of lactose results in increased sweetness and a depression of the freezing point of milk."

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