Abstract :
Laws of different countries regarding SCC of goat milk are not in agreement with each other
and sometimes they fix a threshold for the enhancement of dairy products. The aim of this
study was to assess if renneting properties of goat milk are influenced by higher somatic
cell count (SCC) measured by an electronic cell counter. Milk samples, taken throughout the
lactation of 169 goats from three farms, were analyzed for chemical, physical, hygienic and
renneting properties. Samples were divided into three levels on the basis of their SCC:
L: low level, samples with SCC lower than 106 cells/ml; M: medium, between 106 and
2 × 106 cells/ml; H: high, higher than 2 × 106 cells/ml. Milk clotting time was between 12.07
and 13.31 min, curd firming time between 1.68 and 2.05 min and curd firmness between
41.66 and 48.97 mm. All the three renneting properties were not affected by the SCC level
but they were highly correlated with other factors as protein content and pH. Furthermore,
the microbial count showed a high positive correlation with SCC. These results showed that
in goat milk, contrarily to other dairy species, higher SCC did not affect renneting properties
and that counting of somatic cells by using electronic cell counters might be not suitable
for the improvement of dairy products.
