The effects of the somatic cell count on yield, composition and coagulating properties of Mediterranean buffalo milk

Abstract

The monitoring was carried out for one year on 20 farms of Mediterranean buffalo situated in central Italy. The milk yield, the somatic cell count, the coagulating properties and some components were determined. The average value of somatic cells was 221.28 n×103/ml. Milk production decreased when somatic cell numbers increased. The rennet clotting time increased significantly when somatic cells were higher than 300.00 nx×103/ml, the curd firming time was significantly higher when somatic cells were more than 1,000.00 n×103/ml and the curd firmness increased up to 200.00 nx×103/ml, then gradually decreased. Protein and casein decreased when somatic cells increased and the same trend was shown by casein/protein ratio. Both for these components and the coagulating properties the threshold limit of somatic cells to obtain better results was 200.00 nx×103/ml. The somatic cell number did not show a trend which was strictly influenced by the lactation stage, contrary to what happened in the other species.