Lactulose: Properties, techno-functional food applications, and food grade delivery system

The disaccharide lactulose is a synthetic and non-digestible sugar, which can be synthesized from lactose by glucose to fructose rearranging methods. Its β-glycosidic bond cannot be hydrolyzed by enzymes of upper part of digestional tract. As a potent prebiotic disaccharide, lactulose induces the growth of health-enhancing probiotics such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains in concomitant with pathogen-growth suppression. Lactulose is applied in many food products as a bifidogenic agent and functional prebiotic additive for regulating intestinal functions. In pharmaceutical sciences, it can also be used as an effective therapeutic compound for treating some disorders like hepatic encephalopathy and chronic constipation and also as a food grade colon-targeted delivery system (CODES).