Evaluation of Microbiological and Compositional Quality of Raw Cow’s Milk (Household and Bulk) in Lankapura, Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka

Purpose: At present, in Lankapura, there is a tremendous development in dairy sector. But milk quality issues were raised by the milk consumers and producers who collected milk from Lankapura. Although, measures have been taken to increase the milk production, the quality of milk has not been thoroughly evaluated in area. Research methodology: This study was carried out to evaluate the microbiological, compositional quality of cow’s milk collected from small scale farmers (25) and bulk milk tanks (25 samples) in the study area and to collect data about knowledge of farmers on clean milk production practices. Findings: According to the study, acidity, and average level of bacterial count of household milk production were 0.229±0.029%, 6.193±0.311 log10 CFU/ml respectively and for bulk milk production were 0.294± 0.020%, 6.6427±0.322 log10 CFU/ml respectively. The mean percentage of specific gravity, protein, fat, lactose and SNF for bulk milk samples were 1.029g/ml, 2.740%±0.0866, 4.120%±0.8065, 4.040%±0.1581, 7.6476%±0.34219 respectively and for household’s milk samples were 1.028g/ml, 2.792% ±0.1706, 4.360%±0.7314, 4.032%±0.1973, 7.5716%±0.33726 respectively. When considering management practices of farmers, only 38% farmers cleaned the milking place. Only 28% of farmers maintained proper records. The results indicated that microbiological and compositional quality (except milk fat) were not in acceptable level for both household and bulk milk samples. For microbiological quality, there was a high statistical significance of bulk milk samples than the households. Limitations: The quality of the milk was poor due to unhygienic practices and poor knowledge. Sample numbers were limited in this study, due to limited time period for this study. Larger individual coliform count could not be conducted due to limited manpower and laboratory resources. Originality/ value: As long term solutions such as farmer education programmes, incentive based milk quality systems can be recommended.