Abstract

Enzymes have a vital role in adding value to milk, and their function varies widely from coagulants used to make cheese, to bioprotective enzymes used to enhance the shelf-life of dairy products, proteases used for acceleration of cheese ripening and modification of functional properties of milk proteins, lipases used to develop lipolytic flavors in cheese ripening, and lactases used to hydrolyze lactose to alleviate lactose intolerance and produce galactooligosaccharides as dietary fibers. This chapter (i) presents the recent advances in enzyme discovery approaches used to search for novel enzymes with interesting features, supported by few examples of relevance to the dairy industry, and (ii) discusses the up-to-date developments in industrial dairy enzyme applications, with particular focus on lactose bioconversion by lactose hydrolysis and transgalactosylation.