Chemical T-shirt Series

Lactose is a disaccharide that occurs naturally in both human and cow’s milk. It is widely used in baking and in commercial infant-milk formulas.

Like cellobiose and maltose, lactose is a reducing sugar. It exhibits muta - rotation and is a 1,4’-beta-linked glycoside. Unlike cellobiose and maltose, however, lactose contains two different monosaccharide units. Acidic hydrolysis of lactose yields 1 equiv of D-glucose and 1 equiv of D-galactose; the two are joined by a beta-glycoside bond between C1 of galactose and C4 of glucose.
(Dr Karl Harrison)