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Lactase persistence or lactose tolerance is the continued activity of the lactase enzyme in adulthood, allowing the digestion of lactose in milk. In most mammals , the activity of the enzyme is dramatically reduced after weaning . [ 1 ]
Lactase (EC 3.2.1.108) is an enzyme produced by many organisms and is essential to the complete digestion of whole milk. It breaks down the sugar lactose into its component parts, galactose and glucose. Lactase is found in the brush border of the small intestine of humans and other mammals.
Lactose, or milk sugar, is a disaccharide composed of galactose and glucose and has the molecular formula C 12 H 22 O 11. Lactose makes up around 2–8% of milk (by mass). The name comes from lact (gen. lactis ), the Latin word for milk, plus the suffix -ose used to name sugars.
In the milk of most mammals, lactose is generally the major carbohydrate, so when you have a glass of milk, and it gets through your stomach to the small intestine, that lactose gets chopped into glucose and galactose by an enzyme that’s fittingly called lactase. The gene responsible for production of the lactase enzyme is expressed ...
β-Galactosidase is important for organisms as it is a key provider in the production of energy and a source of carbons through the break down of lactose to galactose and glucose. It is also important for lactose-intolerant people as it is responsible for making lactose-free milk and other dairy products.
Lactase is an enzyme that breaks down the disaccharide lactose to its component parts, glucose and galactose. Glucose and galactose can be absorbed by the small intestine. Approximately 65 percent of the adult population produce only small amounts of lactase and are unable to eat unfermented milk-based foods.
The best-known disaccharide is sucrose (table sugar). Hydrolysis of sucrose yields glucose and fructose. Invertase is a sucrase used industrially for the hydrolysis of sucrose to so-called invert sugar. Lactase is essential for digestive hydrolysis of lactose in milk; many adult humans do not produce lactase and cannot digest the lactose in milk.
Galactose (/ ɡ ə ˈ l æ k t oʊ s /, galacto-+ -ose, "milk sugar"), sometimes abbreviated Gal, is a monosaccharide sugar that is about as sweet as glucose, and about 65% as sweet as sucrose. [2] It is an aldohexose and a C-4 epimer of glucose. [3] A galactose molecule linked with a glucose molecule forms a lactose molecule.