..... Click the link for more information. ). It has the same empirical formula (C12H22O11) as sucrose (cane sugar) and maltose but differs from both in structure (see isomer isomer , in chemistry, one of two or more compounds having the same molecular formula but different structures (arrangements of atoms in the molecule). Isomerism is the occurrence of such compounds. Isomerism was first recognized by J. J. Berzelius in 1827.
..... Click the link for more information. ). It yields the simple sugars sugar, compound of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen belonging to a class of substances called carbohydrates. Sugars fall into three groups: the monosaccharides, disaccharides, and trisaccharides.
..... Click the link for more information. D-glucose and D-galactose on hydrolysis hydrolysis , chemical reaction of a compound with water, usually resulting in the formation of one or more new compounds. The most common hydrolysis occurs when a salt of a weak acid or weak base (or both) is dissolved in water.
..... Click the link for more information. , which is catalyzed by lactase, an enzyme found in gastric juice. People who lack this enzyme after childhood cannot digest milk milk, liquid secreted by the mammary glands of female mammals as food for their young. The milk of the cow is most widely used by humans, but the milk of the mare, goat, ewe, buffalo, camel, ass, zebra, reindeer, llama, and yak is also used.
..... Click the link for more information. and are said to be lactose intolerant. Lactose is formed in the mammary glands of all lactating animals and is present in their milk. It is produced commercially as a byproduct of milk processing. When milk sours, the lactose in it is converted by bacteria to lactic acid. Lactose is less sweet-tasting than sucrose and is not found in plants.
lactose
Slightly sweet sugar (disaccharide) composed of two monosaccharides, glucose and galactose, linked together. Lactose-intolerant adults, and more rarely infants, cannot digest lactose because they lack the enzyme (lactase) that splits it into simpler sugars and suffer diarrhea and bloating when they eat foods containing it. Lactose, which makes up 2–8% of the milk of mammals, is the only common sugar of animal origin. Commercial lactose is obtained from whey, a liquid by-product of cheese. It is used in foods, in pharmaceuticals, and in nutrient broths used to produce penicillin, yeast, and riboflavin, and other products.
lactose
lactose [′lak‚tōs]
Lactose
Milk sugar or 4-O-β- d -galactopyranosyl- d -glucose. This reducing disaccharide is obtained as the α- d anomer (see formula, where the asterisk indicates a reducing group); the melting point is 202°C (396°F). Lactose is found in the milk of
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Lactose
(milk sugar), C12H22O11, a disaccharide, formed from D-galactose and D-glucose radicals; it exists in the a- and β- forms. Crystalline lactose is obtained in three modifications: α-form (melting point, 223°C), β-form (melting point, 252°C), and the α-form monohydrate (melting point, 202°C). Lactose is soluble in water, diluted ethyl alcohol, and pyridine and insoluble in ether and absolute alcohol; it separates into galactose and glucose during acidic hydrolysis.
Lactose occurs in free form (2–8.5 percent) in the milk of all mammals and is included in the composition of oligosaccharides, glycolipides, and glycoproteins. It has also been found in the pollen tubes of some plants. Lactose biosynthesis is effected by the enzyme galactosyl transferase, which catalyzes the transfer of the galactose radical from uridine diphosphate galactose to D-glucose. The enzymatic hydrolysis of lactose proceeds upon action of β-galactosidase. The absence of galactosidase in the mucous membrane of a newborn’s intestines is a hereditary disease that may lead to death if lactose is not excluded from the diet.
D. M. BELEN’KII
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