Development of 'requeijão cremoso' without lactose

Lactose intolerance is the name given to a dysfunction of the body, which has a deficiency or lack of production of enzyme lactase (β-galactosidase), responsible for the conversion of lactose into glucose and galactose. It is common in all age groups and ethnicities, its main consequence is the impossibility of ingesting products containing lactose, such as milk and its derivatives. Anticipating this, the food industry hydrolyzes lactose in order to obtain a product compatible with the disease, without compromising the characteristics already found in products without this treatment. Therefore, the objective of this work was to develop a “requeijão cremoso” without lactose. Skim milk were used as the main ingredient and β-galactosidase was added in concentrations of 0.07%, 0.1% and 0.2%, the hydrolysis time was 90 minutes at a pH of 6.55 and a temperature of 40 ºC. Analyses mode by high performance liquid chromatography showed that the degree of hydrolysis of the formulations was satisfactory. The developed product was adequate to the standards established by Brazilian legislation regarding to microbiological and physico-chemical standards. The sensorial analysis was performed with a hedonic scale of 9 points with a panel of 100 untrained judges, showing no statistically significant difference between samples of lactose-free and traditional curd. Thus, the formulation containing 0.07% of β-galactosidase enzyme can be considered a low-lactose curd, it is a good alternative for intolerants, since it has a similar taste and cost to the traditional one.