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Lactulose: production and use in functional food, medical and pharmaceutical applications. Practical and critical review
Author(s) -
AïtAissa Amara,
Aïder Mohammed
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of food science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.831
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1365-2621
pISSN - 0950-5423
DOI - 10.1111/ijfs.12465
Subject(s) - lactulose , prebiotic , functional food , medicine , context (archaeology) , hepatic encephalopathy , chemistry , food science , gastroenterology , biology , paleontology , cirrhosis
Summary Lactulose is a synthetic disaccharide. It can be obtained from lactose by chemical, enzymatic or by electro‐activation synthesis. This review provides the comprehension of lactulose production and its application in medical, pharmaceutical and functional food applications. Lactulose can be used in medical and pharmaceutical applications for the treatment of diseases such as chronic constipation, therapy of portal systemic encephalopathy, inflammatory bowel disease, reducing blood ammonia levels, colon carcinogenesis, tumour prevention and immunology, mineral absorption and for the inhibition of the secondary bile acid formation. However, with the growing interest in functional foods, the use of nondigestible oligosaccharides such as prebiotic ingredients has increased considerably during the recent years. In this context, lactulose as a well‐recognised prebiotic offers excellent possibilities to develop new functional foods. It can be added to several foods.