Want to reach health-conscious dairy consumers?
How can enzymes help?
Enzymes are easy to use in dairy production, and can make fermented dairy products both sweeter and easier to digest.
Lactases enhance sweetness naturally by converting lactose into glucose and galactose. In commercial production they are easy to use, require only small changes in production lines, and have no impact on taste or texture of the final product. The cost of the enzyme is close to the cost-saving on added sugar. In most markets, enzymes are classified as a processing aid that doesn’t appear on the product label. But the product label can include claims such as ”Less added sugar”.
Other solutions can also add sweetness and reduce the amount of added sugar, such as High Intensity Sweeteners and polyols. But a number of factors must be considered: technical feasibility, impact on taste and texture, consumer perception, regulatory/labelling, nutrition and cost.
Meanwhile, lactose-free fermented dairy products appeal to health-conscious consumers worldwide who are eating more fermented foods, and who often consider lactose-free to be higher quality and healthier.
So it’s not surprising that lactose-free fermented products with reduced sugar represent a fast-growing segment of the dairy market worldwide.

Looking to reduce syneresis while improving viscosity in low-fat yogurt?Now you can – with Galaya® Prime.
Broad application range
Our enzymatic solutions for fermented dairy products
Novozymes Saphera® enables production of easy-to-digest lactose-free and reduced-sugar dairy products. It is an innovative non-yeast lactase originated from Bifidobacterium bifidum that has advantages over traditional yeast-based lactases. Saphera® has a unique pH and temperature profile, and is highly versatile in production applications. It has fewer side activities. It reaches a low-lactose level faster than competitive products. It effectively reduces lactose all the way down to 0.01%.
Benefits
- Enables less added sugar, easy-to-digest, lactose-free dairy products
- Better control of lactose elimination
- Cleaner taste
- Improved suitability for fermented dairy products
- Better sweetness control in sweetened dairy products

Novozymes Saphera® Fiber is a beta-galactosidase that converts lactose (the sugar inherently in milk) into galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS) fiber.
As a conversion of lactose into GOS – and not an added ingredient – the enzyme simultaneously reduces sugar and calories while increasing fiber (fiber generated has the caloric value of 2 kcal/g whereas sugar has 4 kcal/g). This provides innovation opportunities for brands to combine fiber claims in reduced sugar product reformulation.
Benefits
- Fiber enrichment and sugar reduction
- Same sweetness and sensory experience that consumers expect
- Cleaner label and natural positioning
- Stable and easy-to-handle liquid formulation

Novozymes Galaya® Prime is an enzymatic solution for improving the texture of fermented dairy products, enabling replacement of stabilizers and other costly texturizing solutions. The active component of Galaya® Prime is a transglutaminase enzyme which catalyzes the formation of cross-links between lysine (Lys) and glutamine (Gln) amino acids in milk proteins. This contributes to a stronger protein network during yogurt acidification and yields a firmer and more viscous texture with improved water-holding capacity.
Benefits
- Cost effective
- Label friendly
- Easy-to-implement/use liquid formulation
- Superior quality with high purity
