**Author details**

*Lactose and Lactose Derivatives*

otic effects [61].

**4. Conclusions**

**Acknowledgements**

surfactant. Also, this value-added compound functions as food additive, gelling agent, solubilizing agent, sweetener, water holding capacity agent and bioactive ingredient enhancing calcium absorption, antioxidant activity and exerting prebi-

Lactic acid (2-hydroxipropionic acid, MW 90.08 g/mol) is an organic acid with a prime position due to its versatile applications in textile, leather, chemical, pharmaceutical and food industries. Lactic acid applications associated to food and food-related represent 85% of total production, approximately. This organic acid has been recognized as GRAS by the FDA [71]. It is used as flavoring, buffering agent, inhibitor of bacterial spoilage, acidulant, dough conditioner and emulsifier [72]. Most of lactic acid is produced through microbial fermentation, mainly *Lactobacillus delbrueckii or Lactobacillus amylophilus* strains, using beet extracts,

Polylactic acid is a biocompatible polymer with unique properties. Lactic acid and lactide are the building blocks to obtain it through a polycondensation reaction. This biodegradable and renewable biopolymer is a relevant alternative to plastics derived from petrochemicals, so its demand has been increasing considerably. In fact, the global polylactic acid market was expected to grow over 1.2 million tons in 2020. Nowadays, most polylactic acid is manufactured for single-use applications in packaging, including food packaging supplies [73]. However, it has important biomedical uses, due to its GRAS status recognized by the FDA. This biomaterial has been transformed into sutures, scaffolds, cell carriers and drug delivery systems such as liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, dendrimers and micelles [74, 75].

Cheese whey production is increasing worldwide every year. Even though CW is considered a major environmental pollutant, due to its quantity and quality of chemical components, there is a huge opportunity to use it as raw material to produce value-added functional compounds. CW lactose is an excellent substrate to obtain high quality products able to improve human health and well-being, e.g. lactitol, lactosucrose, GOS, lactulose, sialyllactose and organic acids. For example, GOS and sialyllactose have a bifidus factor similar to the effect of human milk oligosaccharides stimulating the growth of specific intestinal microbiota, enhancing immunity, promoting the synthesis of vitamins and decreasing the risk of colon cancer. Moreover, microbial bioprocesses use CW lactose to produce relevant healthpromoting metabolites such as kefiran and organic acids. Future perspectives are focusing on the sustainable transformation of CW lactose as by product into valueadded functional compounds to be used as novel ingredients in a diverse formulation of food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic new products. Therefore, additional research concentrated on the development of innovative technological processes, more

efficient and able to discover new bioactive compounds are essential.

Authors thank the Mexican Science and Technology Council (CONACYT) for

financing the publication of this book chapter through the project 258483.

molasses, starchy and cellulosic materials and cheese whey [71].

**84**

Hada María Guevara-Alvarado1 , Néstor Gutiérrez-Méndez<sup>2</sup> , Esther Carrillo-Pérez<sup>3</sup> , Einar Vargas-Bello-Pérez<sup>4</sup> and José Carlos Rodríguez-Figueroa<sup>3</sup> \*

1 Escuela Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza, Perú

2 Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, México


\*Address all correspondence to: jose.rodriguez@unison.mx

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
