β-Galactosidases from Kluyveromyces lactis and Kluyveromyces marxianus isolated from artisanal ewes’ milk cheeses, were used to transgalactosylate lactose from cheese whey permeate (WP). The content of galactooligosaccharides (GOS) obtained by transgalactosylation was comparable with that formed using pure lactose as substrate. In order to obtain a mixture with higher prebiotic oligosaccharide content, isomerisation of the transgalactosylated WP was carried out using sodium aluminate as catalyst. The transgalactosylated mixtures at 6 h of reaction contained amounts of prebiotic carbohydrates (tagatose, lactulose, GOS and oligosaccharides derived from lactulose, OsLu) close to 50 g/100 g of total carbohydrates for all the strains tested, corresponding to 322 g prebiotics/kg whey permeate. Thus, the suitability of this methodology to produce mixtures of dietary non-digestible carbohydrates with prebiotic properties from WP has been demonstrated, which is interesting for the food industry since it increases the value and the applicability of this by-product from cheese manufacture.
