Processed
Fungal Lactase
A tier
Fungal lactase, often from Aspergillus oryzae or A. niger, prefers a more acid environment than yeast lactase. It is the enzyme behind many chewable lactase tablets and some fermented or acid dairy applications where milk pH has already fallen. In a fresh-milk silo it is usually the wrong pick; in a yoghurt or a stomach-acid tablet it is the right one. Tableted fungal lactase should disintegrate cleanly and smell faintly cereal, not mouldy. Overstating acid stability does not make it a substitute for a neutral-pH dairy lactase in UHT milk. Read the pH optimum on the sack before you treat a tank.
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Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
History
Aspergillus lactases were developed for acid applications and dietary supplements.
Chewable lactase tablets standardised on fungal enzymes that survive gastric pH.
Some yoghurt and acid-dairy processes used fungal lactase after fermentation had dropped the pH.
Supplement brands still pack fungal lactase while dairies keep yeast enzymes for sweet milk.