PROPERTIES OF LACTOSE

SUBMITTED TO : DR. CHITRA GUPTA

SUBMITTED BY : TEJAS MILIND
TIWARI
 INTRODUCTION
Lactose is a disaccharide molecule. It is a sugar composed
of galactose and glucose subunits and has the molecular
formula C12H22O11. Lactose makes up around 2–8%
of milk (by weight). The name comes
from lac (gen. lactis), the Latin word for milk, plus the
suffix -ose used to name sugars. The compound is a white,
water-soluble, non-hygroscopic solid with a mildly sweet
taste.
 PHYSICAL & CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

1. Structure
2. Density
3. Solubility
4. Relative sweetness
5. Biosynthesis of Lactose
6. Crystallization
STRUCTURE

1. It is a disaccharides molecule composed of D-glucose and D-

galactose and exhibits mutarotation.
2. Lactose exists in two physical forms alpha lactose and beta
lactose. The physical properties of these two differ at some
extent. The difference is mainly in their solubility, optical
rotation and melting point.
Alpha lactose :
It is isomeric form of
lactose . It crystallizes below 90°C .
It has a specific optional rotation of
+89. 4° and melting point 201.6°C.

Beta lactose :
It is other isomeric
form of lactose. It has specific
rotation +35.0° and it crystallizes
above 90°C.
 DENSITY
• Densities of the various lactose crystals differ slightly from each
other.
• α-hydrate form is 1.540, anhydrous β is 1.589,anhydrous α
formed by dehydration under vacuum is 1.544 and anhydrous
αcrystallized from alcohol is 1.575
 SOLUBILITY

• Lactose is freely soluble in water. However, the solubility of

lactose is much lower than that of other common sugars.
• Solubility increases with increasing temperature. β-lactose
dissolves more readily than α-lactose, as is apparent from their
very different initial rates of solubility.
• Final solubility is the same for α- and β-lactose because of the
mutarotation equilibrium that is eventually reached in solution
• The particle size of the lactose influences its dissolving
velocity.  Final solubility of lactose depends on temperature.
• The initial solubility is the true solubility of the form. The
increasing solubility with time is due to mutarotation.
• Lactose solubility values at different temperatures .
 RELATIVE SWEETNESS
• It has been amply demonstrated that the relatives sweetness of
sugars changes with the concentration.
• It should be noted that lactose is relatively sweeter at higher
concentrations than at lower concentrations and is sweeter than
is usually reported in reviews of food applications.
• Lactose has a clean and sweet taste without any after taste
 BIOSYNTHESIS OF LACTOSE
•biosynthesis of lactose Lactose is essentially unique to
mammary secretions. It is synthesized from glucose absorbed
from blood.
•One molecule of glucose is isomerizes to UDP-galactose via
the four-enzyme Leloir pathway . UDP-Gal is then linked to
another molecule of glucose in a reaction catalyzed by the
enzyme, lactose synthetase, a two-component enzyme .

•
•Component A is a non-specific galactosyl transferase which
transfers the galactose from UDP Gal to a number of acceptors.
•In the presence of the B component, which is the whey protein, a-
lactalbumin, the transferase becomes highly specific for glucose
(its K, decreases 1000-fold), leading to the synthesis of lactose.
•Thus, r-lactalbumin is an enzyme modifier and its concentration in
the milk of several species is directly related to the concentration
of lactose in those milks; the milks of some marine mammals
contain neither a-lactalbumin nor lactose.
 CRYSTALLIZATION OF LACTOSE

• Alpha Hydrate :-
Alpha-Lactose crystallizes as a monohydrate containing 5% water of
crystallization and can be prepared by concentrating aqueous lactose solutions to super
saturation and allowing crystallization to occur below93.5"C. The Alpha monohydrate
has a specific rotation in water at 20°C of +89.4". It is soluble only to the extent of 7g
per 1OOg water at 20°C. It forms a number of crystal shapes. Crystals are hard and
dissolve slowly.
• Alpha-Anhydrous : -
Anhydrous a-lactose may be prepared by dehydrating alpha-
hydrate in vacuo at temperatures between 65 and 93.5”C; it is
stable only in the absence of moisture.
• Beta Anhydride : -
Since Beta lactose is less soluble than the Alpha isomer
above 93.5”C, the crystals formed from aqueous solutions at
temperatures above 93.5"C are p-lactose; these are anhydrous and
have a specific rotation of 35“.
THANK YOU