Chemical composition and hygiene quality is of the greatest importance in public health, processing technology and the quality of milk products. The purpose of this study was to establish correlations between season, the total number germs and somatic cell count of cow’s milk as indicators for the hygienic quality. Researches were carried out on 31 milk samples collected from domestic market. The milk samples were collected during the months of January-December 2014 at least two samples a month. The total number of germs and somatic cell count was determined using standards methods in the laboratories at Faculty of Animal Science of the Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Michael I of Romania” from Timisoara. All determinations were processed statistically by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). We observed a negative correlation between the total number of germs and somatic cell count (r=-0.202). The results showed a positive correlations between the total number of germs and the somatic cell count during the spring (r=0.314) and the autumn (r=0.328). We observed also a negative correlation between the total number germs and somatic cell count during the summer (r=-0.369) and the winter (r=-0.394) season. We concluded that the season has influence on the somatic cell count in milk and the milk composition. Somatic cell count was the highest in spring (a little bit over the maximum limit) and the lowest in winter and early autumn. This demonstrates a higher incidence of the mastitis during the hot season than in cold season.

cow milk, somatic cell count, total number of germs, season

Presentation: poster