PURSE 2000

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Browsing PURSE 2000 by Author "Fernando, P.S."

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    Assessment of contamination of milk at different stages of collection
    (University of Peradeniya, 2000-12-16) Hathurusinghe, M.H.; Horadagoda, A.; Fernando, P.S.; Weihena, S.
    Good quality milk in relation to composition and hygiene is a basic requirement to process the 'ready to drink' milk which is presently in great demand. Inevitably this market trend has stimulated milk-procuring agencies to examine milk for both composition and quality of milk at the various stages in the collection chain. A very large proportion of milk in Sri Lanka is produced by small holder dairy farmers where clean milk drawn directly from the udder is likely to be contaminated before it reaches a processing plant. Polluted water. unclean receptacles. long transit time with increased environmental temperatures. are some of the potential causes for increased bacterial counts in milk which reflect contamination. The purpose of this study was to identify the amount of contamination of milk at the different stages of collection and the influence of preservatives in reducing such contantination. The study was conducted among .to dairy farmers in three villages around Kandy. The fanners were visited three times during a period of six months. In the first visit. a sample of milk was collected to determine the degree of contarrtination. At the second visit a sample was collected for the California mastitis test (CMT) and the third visit was made to create an awareness of the importance of clean milk production. Ten per cent of sample drawn from the udder was positive for Methylene-Blue dye Reduction test (MBRT) after one hour. In contrast. 15% of milk samples collected from the bucket and 50% of the samples collected at the Milk Collecting Centers were found to be positive for MBRT after one hour. and by the end of the third hour all the collecting center samples were found to be positive. It was observed that polluted water and general unhygienic conditions were the main contributors to contamination of milk. Among the samples collected from the three villages, the management practices in one village was very poor. In this village even the samples collected directly from the udder were found to be heavily contaminated and 77% of them gave a positive reaction to the CMT. The addition of hydrogen peroxide was found to reduce the bacterial counts indicating that it is a useful preservative. The third visit helped to educate fanners on cleaner milk production resulting in a better price for their milk.