ABSTRACT
Changes in human nutrition have promoted some intolerances, such as to lactose found in dairy products, which are highly consumed worldwide. This problem certainly impacts a significant percentage of the world population. But β-galactosidases appear to be an efficient and accessible solution, not only in the hydrolysis of lactose in dairy products, as they have also been applied mainly in the conversion of lactose into other industrial products, in the treatment of commercially discarded whey and the production of galactooligosaccharides (GOS). Different enterprises have invested in the search for new production technologies in the last 20–30 years. Nowadays, consolidated processes are established by several manufacturers worldwide. Even so, the development of new low cost processes for β-galactosidase production and purification, costs may involve the use of alternative substrates, enzyme immobilization, and strain modification to obtain hyper producers. This chapter describes the main fundamentals of β-galactosidases, production processes, their applications, immobilization techniques, recombinant enzymes production, and patents and innovation.
