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Does mutarotation influence lactose digestion? Experimental investigations and a mathematical model
1Central Institute of Nutrition, Academy of Sciences of the G.D.R., Potsdam-Rehbrücke.
Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine
|July 1, 1990
Summary
Lactose can function as dietary fiber, with its digestion influenced by food composition. Surprisingly, while dietary factors affect lactose anomer ratios, they do not alter the total amount of digested lactose.
Area of Science:
- Nutritional Science
- Biochemistry
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- Lactose, a disaccharide, can act as a dietary fiber.
- Undigested lactose reaches the colon, where it is utilized by microflora.
- Dietary factors may influence lactose digestion and absorption.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanisms of lactose digestion and absorption.
- To explore the influence of diet composition on lactose anomer hydrolysis and mutarotation.
- To model lactose digestion in infants and rats.
Main Methods:
- Enzymatic hydrolysis rate analysis of lactose anomers.
- Investigation of food ingredient effects on lactose mutarotation.
- Mathematical modeling of lactose digestion in the small intestine.
- In vivo studies using intestinal perfusion in human infants and rats.
Main Results:
- Alpha-lactose is hydrolyzed faster than beta-lactose by beta-galactosidase.
- Acid-base catalysis influences lactose mutarotation, with weak-acid anions accelerating the process.
- Dietary components can alter the ratio of lactose anomers.
- Surprisingly, dietary components did not significantly impact the total amount of digested lactose.
Conclusions:
- Lactose digestion is an enzymatic process influenced by anomer-specific hydrolysis rates.
- Dietary factors can modify lactose anomer ratios through mutarotation.
- Despite influencing anomer ratios, dietary components do not affect the overall extent of lactose digestion.