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ICAR AIEEA-PG Lactose, Milk Salts & Vitamins: practice questions

ICAR AIEEA-PG: Dairy Science (group 16) and Dairy Technology (group 17) · India · NTA for ICAR

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers
10worked here, free
85written to this exam in this subject
10syllabus units

What this subject covers

Lactose chemistry and crystallisation, the salt system of milk, trace elements and water-soluble vitamins.

In the exams: ICAR AICE subject 34 Unit 1; ICAR AIEEA-PG group 16 (lactose crystallisation and its significance)

What ICAR AIEEA-PG asks from it

ICAR AIEEA-PG — Dairy Science (group 16)

Lactose crystallisation and its significance, chemistry of condensed and dried milks and ice cream, changes in milk powder during storage, Maillard browning, milk salts and heat stability, and vitamins in milk.

Where the 85 questions fall

How our questions for ICAR AIEEA-PG spread across the units of Lactose, Milk Salts & Vitamins. Difficulty: 29 easy, 41 medium, 15 hard.

Lactose derivatives: lactulose, galacto-oligosaccharides, lactitol, lactobionic acid10
Milk salts: calcium, phosphate, citrate and their partition10
Lactose solubility and crystallisation9
Maillard browning and its control9
Lactose biosynthesis and intolerance9
Water-soluble vitamins and their losses in processing9
Lactose structure, alpha and beta forms and mutarotation8
Trace elements in milk8
Salt balance and heat stability7
Lactose in sweetened condensed milk, powders and ice cream6

10 practice questions, worked

Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.

1 · Lactose structure, alpha and beta forms and mutarotation · medium

If the equilibrium ratio of beta to alpha lactose is 1.68, what percentage of the lactose is in the beta form?

  1. 59.5 per cent
  2. 37.3 per cent
  3. 168 per cent
  4. 62.7 per cent
Answer and working

D. 62.7 per cent

Beta fraction = 1.68 / (1 + 1.68) = 0.627 = 62.7%. 37.3 is the alpha share; 59.5 is 1/1.68.

Further reading: McSweeney and Fox (eds), Advanced Dairy Chemistry Vol. 3: Lactose, Water, Salts and Minor Constituents

2 · Lactose in sweetened condensed milk, powders and ice cream · hard

Ice cream becomes sandy during storage mainly because:

  1. Fat crystals melt and recrystallise as large beta crystals
  2. Lactose crystallises in the concentrated serum, especially with high MSNF and temperature fluctuations
  3. Ice crystals of more than 1 millimetre form immediately on freezing in the freezer and are felt as grains of sand
  4. Sucrose reacts with milk protein to form brown granules
Answer and working

B. Lactose crystallises in the concentrated serum, especially with high MSNF and temperature fluctuations

Sandiness is lactose crystallisation; coarse iciness is a separate defect from large ice crystals.

Further reading: McSweeney and Fox (eds), Advanced Dairy Chemistry Vol. 3: Lactose, Water, Salts and Minor Constituents

3 · Maillard browning and its control · easy

The Maillard reaction in milk occurs mainly between lactose and:

  1. The epsilon-amino group of lysine residues
  2. The carboxyl groups of fatty acids
  3. The phosphate groups of phosphoserine
  4. The sulfhydryl group of cysteine residues
Answer and working

A. The epsilon-amino group of lysine residues

Reducing sugars react with free amino groups, chiefly lysine's epsilon-amino group in proteins.

Further reading: Fox et al., Dairy Chemistry and Biochemistry

4 · Lactose derivatives: lactulose, galacto-oligosaccharides, lactitol, lactobionic acid · medium

Galacto-oligosaccharides are produced industrially by:

  1. Transgalactosylation with beta-galactosidase at high lactose concentration
  2. Fermentation of lactose to lactic acid
  3. Acid hydrolysis of lactose at low concentration followed by neutralisation
  4. Catalytic hydrogenation of lactose
Answer and working

A. Transgalactosylation with beta-galactosidase at high lactose concentration

At high lactose concentration beta-galactosidase transfers galactose to sugars rather than water, forming GOS.

Further reading: Fox et al., Dairy Chemistry and Biochemistry

5 · Lactose biosynthesis and intolerance · easy

Lactose synthase consists of:

  1. Beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase and alpha-lactalbumin
  2. Lipoprotein lipase and kappa-casein
  3. Glucokinase and serum albumin
  4. Beta-galactosidase and beta-lactoglobulin
Answer and working

A. Beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase and alpha-lactalbumin

Alpha-lactalbumin changes galactosyltransferase specificity so glucose becomes the acceptor.

Further reading: Fox et al., Dairy Chemistry and Biochemistry

6 · Lactose biosynthesis and intolerance · medium

According to the EFSA review, roughly how much lactose in a single dose do most people with lactose malabsorption tolerate?

  1. Up to about 12 grams
  2. No lactose at all
  3. Up to about 100 grams
  4. Up to about 0.1 gram
Answer and working

A. Up to about 12 grams

EFSA (2010) concluded most tolerate up to about 12 g lactose in a single dose, roughly a cup of milk.

Further reading: Fox et al., Dairy Chemistry and Biochemistry

7 · Milk salts: calcium, phosphate, citrate and their partition · medium

Cow milk contains about 1.2 grams per litre of calcium (atomic mass 40.08). What is this in millimoles per litre?

  1. About 30 millimolar
  2. About 300 millimolar
  3. About 48 millimolar
  4. About 3 millimolar
Answer and working

A. About 30 millimolar

1.2/40.08 x 1000 = 29.9 mM. 48 multiplies 1.2 by 40.

Further reading: Fox et al., Dairy Chemistry and Biochemistry

8 · Salt balance and heat stability · hard

In processed cheese, emulsifying salts such as citrates and phosphates work by:

  1. Adding calcium to para-casein so that it forms a firmer and more elastic protein network
  2. Lowering the pH to the isoelectric point of casein
  3. Hydrolysing fat into emulsifying monoglycerides
  4. Sequestering calcium from para-casein so it hydrates and emulsifies fat
Answer and working

D. Sequestering calcium from para-casein so it hydrates and emulsifies fat

Calcium removal disperses para-casein, which then emulsifies the fat.

Further reading: McSweeney and Fox (eds), Advanced Dairy Chemistry Vol. 3: Lactose, Water, Salts and Minor Constituents

9 · Trace elements in milk · medium

Which trace element in milk is technologically important mainly as a catalyst of lipid oxidation?

  1. Cobalt
  2. Zinc
  3. Copper
  4. Selenium
Answer and working

C. Copper

Copper, even at fractions of a mg/L, catalyses oxidation; this is why copper fittings were replaced by stainless steel.

Further reading: Fox et al., Dairy Chemistry and Biochemistry

10 · Trace elements in milk · medium

Selenium content of milk varies mainly with:

  1. The time of day of milking
  2. The selenium content of soils and feed supplements
  3. The storage temperature of the milk
  4. The fat content of the milk
Answer and working

B. The selenium content of soils and feed supplements

Milk selenium reflects soil and dietary selenium.

Further reading: McSweeney and Fox (eds), Advanced Dairy Chemistry Vol. 3: Lactose, Water, Salts and Minor Constituents

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Lactose, Milk Salts & VitaminsThe full study manual, free ICAR AIEEA-PGFormat, sections and how it has changed

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