Determination of Lactose in Milk by Raman Spectroscopy

A Raman spectroscopy-based approach was developed for the rapid determination of lactose in milk using crystal violet as an internal standard. The crystal violet peak at 1173 reciprocal centimeters did not interfere with the lactose peak at 1085 reciprocal centimeters; therefore, crystal violet can be used to quantify lactose in milk. This developed method allowed the determination of lactose from 0.028-0.1mole per liter, with a limit of detection of 0.019mole per liter. The results revealed that Raman spectroscopy is a simple and rapid method for the determination of lactose in milk.