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BIOCHEMICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF COMMERCIAL BRANDS OF PACKAGED MILK SOLD IN AND AROUND COURTALLAM A TOURIST SPOT, T.N., INDIA

T. Karuppayee*

ICAR Centre, Sri Parasakthi College for Women, Courtallam 627 802, India

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Abstract

Courtallam is situated at an elevation of about 167km on the Western Ghats in Tirunelveli District (Tamil Nadu). It is an excellent health resort and it is famous for the Water falls. Courtallam is a well known bathing place and tourist attraction. Some of its magnificent waterfalls of Chittar River are said to have mineral properties. Bathing in these water falls is considered good for both mind and body .It is famous for “SPA” and many touists are interested in this. The insanitary condition prevailing causes severe food contamination which in turn causes health hazards to people consuming it. Hence, the biochemical and microbiological qualities of popular packaged milk sold in Courtallam was investigated. Seven brands of packaged milk in six replications were taken for the present study. There was no significant difference in the Moisture, Total solids, Volatile solids, Acidity, Lactose and Protein of the milk samples. However, significant difference was observed in the Fat content of these samples. Among the minerals studied there was no significant difference in Calcium, Phosphorus, Sodium, Potassium and Chloride and significant difference (P<0.01) in Magnesium and Iron. In microbial studies, the highest bacterial populations were recorded in brand G .Among the seven brands of packaged milk samples tested the biochemical profile was much superior in brand G, however the microbiological qualities was poor.

Keywords

Qualities, Packaged milk, Courtallam.

Introduction

Primarily the quality of market milk is judged mainly on the basis of fat content and density. But the present time the presence of microbes in milk play a vital role in judging its quality. Milk containing proper fat and other constituents may be discarded if it is having higher microbial counts, while a sample with lower prescribed counts may be accepted. (Rai et al. 1990). The purpose of present investigation it to find out the biochemical and microbiological quality of packaged milk of various brands sold in Courtallam and its surroundings.

Today the annual production of processed milk in India more than 150 million tones (Ramesh and Kumar, 2007). It is distributed by private dairies and local vendors.It is very essential to asses the biochemical and microbiological qualities of milk supplied by these private dairies. Bio chemical would indicate the nutritive value of milk. The micro organisms present not only affect the shelf life of milk but have implication in public health as these may also include potential pathogens.

Materials and Methods

Six samples of seven brands of commercially available packaged, standardized milk sold in this area were collected for the present investigation. They were labeled as A, B, C, D, E, F and G to conceal the trade names. The samples were carefully collected and transfer to the laboratory in an ice box for both biochemical and microbiological analyses. At that time of sampling, temperature and aseptic conditions were also properly maintained as per standard procedure described for the Examination of Diary Products in APHA (1978).

The analysis of various biochemical parameters namely pH , Moisture, Total asolids, Volatile solids were carried out according to the procedure APHA (1975). Fat, Aacidity, were estimated as per ISI (1977) and ISI (1960). Lactose and Nitrogen content were determined by Oser (1965) and Jackson(1958) respectively. The mineral contents namely Calcium (APHA 1975), Magnesium (Neil and Neely 1956), Iron (Banerjee 1978) Sodium and Potassium (APHA 1995), Chloride (APHA 1975), Phosphorus (Fiske and Subbarow 1925) were also determined.

Total microbial population, coliforms B.cereus, S.aureus and Yeast and Mold were enumerated according to the methods given for the Examination of Diary Products in APHA (1978). Statistical analysis was carried out according to the procedure given in Snedecor and Cochran (1997).

Results and Discussion

In Tamil Nadu thousand lakh liters of milk is processed and distributed by private dairies and local vendors. Seven commercial brands of standardized and pasteurized milk sold by private dairies were studied for its biochemical and microbiological qualities. The names of these brands were kept secret and alphabet A, B, C, D, E, F and G were assigned to identify them. The biochemical parameters studied were pH, Moisture, Total solids, Volatile solids, Fat, Acidity, Lactose, Protein, Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Iron, Sodium, Potassium, and Chloride. The microorganism studied included Bacterial population, Coliforms, B. cereus, S. aureus and Yeast and Mold.

The samples of commercial brands of pocketed milk were analyzed and the biochemical profile of these seven brands of milk is presented in Table 1. All the seven brands of milk samples nearer to Court allam were slightly acidic and the value ranged from 6.53 to 6.66. There was no significant difference in the Moisture, Total solids, Volatile solids, Acidity, Lactose and Protein of the milk samples. However, significant difference was observed in the fat content of these samples. When the fat content was estimated highest amount was recorded in brand G and lowest in brand D. Mineral concentrations of these seven brands of milk sample are shown in Table 2. Among the minerals studied, there was no significant difference in Calcium, Phosphorus, Sodium, Potassium and Chloride. However, there was significant difference (P<0.01) regarding Magnesium and Iron content among various brands of milk samples. Based on the biochemical profile of milk brand G was much superior to other brands of milk studied.

icontrolpollution-Biochemical-Composition-Milk

Table 1: Biochemical Composition of Packaged Milk Available in and Around Courtallam (Mean + SE n=6)

icontrolpollution-Mineral-Constituents-Sold

Table 2: Mineral Constituents of Packaged Milk Sold in and Around Courtallam (Mean + S En=6)

Bacterial population, coliform, B. cereus and S. aureus and Yeast and Mold counts of these brands of milk sample are represented in Table 3. The highest bacterial population was recorded in brand G compared to other brands of milk investigated. Gopi et al. (2001) reported the average bacterial population of various brands of milk and the values varied from 5.5 to 175.17x104 cfu per milliliter. In the present study the bacterial population of different brands of milk fell in the range provided by the above authors (21.81 to 67.83 x 104 cfu per milliliter). However, this was much superior to the values given by Katre and Prasad (2000). According to Indian Standard Institution, the raw milk would be satisfactory if it contains no coliform in 1/100 dilution and 1/10 dilution which was not found with the commercial brands of packaged milk sold in this area. The values obtained in the present study were higher than the values of Misra and Kuila (1989) (zero to 1000 cfu per milliliter) and Siva et al. (1993) (1 to 80 cfu per milliliter). Much variation was also recorded in the counts of B.cereus, S.aureus and Yeast and Mold counts of packaged milk sold in our environment. Though brand G was very good in its biochemical quality, it was inferior in terms of its microbiological quality. Hence, buying of such milk by the public must be discouraged and consumer awareness must be created regarding microbiological quality of milk. Punitive measures must be advocated on the milk companies who are not complying with ISI specifications.

icontrolpollution-Microbial-Packaged-Courtallam

Table 3: Microbial Pattern of Packaged Milk Sold in and Around Courtallam (Mean+ SE n=6)

icontrolpollution-Microbial-Pattern-Courtallam

Figure 1: HPLC chromatogram of the nine reference compounds in 50% aqueous methanol, measured at 370nm. Retention times for rutin, sutherlandin A, sutherlandin B, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, sutherlandin C, sutherlandin D, quercitrin, quercetin and kaempferol were 11.9, 12.7, 13.8, 15.3, 16.2, 17.0, 18.0, 26.2 and 28.1 minutes, respectively.

Conclusion

The microbial quality of brand G was much inferior which might have led to poor keeping quality. Health authorities must take stringent measures against companies or individuals selling poor microbial quality of packaged milk.

References

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