The main goal of this work was to study the influence of the reaction parameters on the enzymatic production of galactooligosaccharides (GOS) using the commercial β-galactosidase from Kluyveromyces lactis (Lactozym® 3000 L) and lactose as the substrate. A 2³ experimental design was proposed, verifying the influence of the temperature (30 to 40 °C), lactose concentration (200 to 400 mg.mL-1) and enzyme concentration (5 to 10 U.mL-1) on the performance of the enzymatic reaction. The assays were carried out at 180 rpm and pH 7.0 (0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer). The enzyme Lactozym® 3000 L presented transgalactosylation activity, reaching a yield of 41.9% and GOS concentration of 167.5 mg.mL-1 in a reaction system composed of 400 mg.mL-1 of lactose and 5 U.mL-1 of enzyme at 30 °C and 14 h of reaction. Under these conditions the lactose conversion was 65.0%. Higher lactose concentrations favored the transgalactosylation mechanism, whereas the hydrolytic mechanism dominated with lower concentrations.
Prebiotics; Oligosaccharides; Transgalactosylation
