Technical note: Optimization of lactose quantification based on coupled enzymatic reactions

A colorimetric microplate-adapted lactose assay was developed to quantify lactose in dairy products. The assay was based on the coupled enzymatic reaction of β-galactosidase-glucose oxidase-horseradish peroxidase using Amplex red as detection probe. The assay showed good linearity in the range of 0.1 to 0.5 mmol of lactose/L, with a limit of detection of 0.0433 mmol/L and a limit of quantification of 0.1313 mmol/L. The lactose assay at optimized conditions (5 U of β-galactosidase/mL, 5 U of glucose oxidase/mL, 1 U of horseradish peroxidase/mL, and 100 μmol of Amplex red/L for 1 h at 37°C in the dark) showed good correlation with a commercial lactose enzymatic kit with intraassay variation below 10% and interassay variations below 7.6%. The developed lactose microplate assay can be adopted as routine analysis for lactose determination in dairy products due to its relatively low cost compared with a commercial kit, relatively short reaction time, and high sensitivity and reproducibility.