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Page No. : 113-117

ABSTRACT

Milk and its products are very much prone to microbial contamination owing to their highly nutritious nature and the impending risks of contamination lurking in the milking environment. A total of ten dairy farms around Junagadh city, Gujarat were chosen with the aim of assessing the quality of raw milk and the microbial load of the associated environmental samples in terms of total viable count (TVC) and coliform count. The highest mean TVC of raw milk was recorded during monsoon (5.51±0.24 log10CFU/ml) and lowest during winter months (4.64±0.24). The mean coliform count of milk was highest during monsoon (3.12±0.16) and lowest in winter (2.88±0.18) with no significant (p>0.05) difference between the seasons for either of the counts. As per BIS standards for TVC, only 6.7% (2/30) samples were of fair quality while the remaining samples were of poor grade. Coliforms were detected in all the milk samples and were graded as unsatisfactory. Udder wash samples had the highest mean TVC (4.63±0.23) among the environmental samples, followed by hand wash (3.87±0.21), water (3.59±0.15) and utensil rinse (3.44±0.14). As per BIS standards 23.3% (7/30) of utensil rinse samples were of unsatisfactory quality while the rest of the samples were of fair quality. The water samples revealed mean coliform count of 2.02±0.15 log10CFU/ml across all three seasons. The coliform counts of water, hand wash samples of milkmen (2.12±0.18) and udder wash (2.09±0.15) were higher in comparison to utensil rinse (1.33±0.13). The poor hygienic practices followed during production of milk at farm level need to be improved to reduce the microbial contamination. The presence of high TVC and coliform count in the associated environmental samples reinforce the need for strict implementation of HACCP practices at all stages of collection and dispatch of milk to the consumer.

Keywords: Coliform count, environmental sources, quality assessment, raw milk, TVC.