Synthesis, characterisation and microbial utilisation of amorphous polysugars from lactose

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. The melt polymerisations of glucose, galactose, xylose and fucose with citric acid, and mixtures of sugars therein are reported. Characterisation of the citric-acid catalysed reaction products indicated similar degrees of branched polymerisation but differences in the overall molecular weight of the polymers produced. The dairy by-product lactose could not be polymerised in a similar fashion but was shown tobe readily hydrolysed using microwave radiation and a polymer generated from the melt condensation of the resultant glucose and galactose monosaccharides. A preliminary assessment of the bifido-bacterialutilisation of the lactose-derived polymerised products demonstrated a significantly different growth profile compared to commercially utilised galactooligosaccharides (GOS).