I was just curious as some students asked me this question. I have searched the literature but no conclusive answer was obtained. Why lactose is the main carbohydrate source in milk? Is there some scientific explanation to it.
I think you have to study the mammary gland physiology to better understand why lactose is the main carbohydrate source in milk.
In general lactose is synthesized from glucose absorbed from the blood stream by the mammary gland but an important point, in my opinion is that lactose is a nonpermeable disaccharide which can not diffuse out of the Golgi membrane or out of secretory vesicles' membrane. This characteristic is important for milk synthesis because it is the synthesis of the nondiffusible lactose which results in water being drawn into the Golgi.
Isaac Asimov in his book The Living River about the Blood said that as lactose has not a sweet flavor helps to avoid sweet addiction in baby animals, and is easily hidrolizable to get glucose.
It is basically related to the genetic traits of each organism, genetic codes determined all characters, including colours, metabolites, etc.
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