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Collection, Storage, Processing And Preservation
Technologies
For Shelf Life Extension Of Milk
Md. I. A. Ansari and A. K. Datta
Department of Agricultural Engineering Birsa Agricultural University, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand—834006
Agricultural and Food Engineering Department Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal-721302
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India is the largest producer of milk in the world with an annual production of 90 million tonnes. The turnover of the domestic milk industry is around Rs. 80,000 crore. Although India produces the highest quantity of milk, the quality of milk produced lags far below the international standards. The initial bacterial load in Indian milk is generally between 8 to 10 million / ml and also bacteria doubles its population every 15 minutes in tropical condition (Kumar, 1999) as milk is an excellent culture medium for growth of many microorganisms. It has been reported that nearly 5 per cent of the milk produced in the country goes sour, causing a loss of Rs 4,000 crore annually, which could be easily saved by improving the sanitary condition in dairies. The annual losses caused due to widespread prevalence of Mastitis is estimated at Rs 1600 crore. The quality improvement of milk and milk products is the need of hour to remain competitive in the domestic and international market. The huge export potential of India has remained untapped due to non conformation of the stringent food safety and quality norms of developed countries. Much of Indian milk production is contributed by the unorganized sector, which makes it difficult to regulate the quality of milk as well as proper distribution of the product. The Indian dairy sector consists predominantly of small-scale milk producers who generally keep on an average two milch animals. To optimize returns, dairy farmers have to find ways to improvise on the methods of clean milk production, collection, transportation and preservation. The technologies suitable to rural conditions, for collection of safe milk are being implemented, through the use of chilling at village and automated milk collection systems. This is particularly important in the rural context, as microbes, which cause major damage to milk, are omnipresent, and their incidence can be minimized following good hygienic practices and sanitation, by the producer and of his milch animal.
India has initiated reforms in the economic and financial sectors over the last decade, ushering in a free market economy. Globalization has created multiple products, manufacturers and solutions. Instead of a limited availability of products under a monopoly market, consumers now have the choice of a wide array of products form multi-national companies. The customer can choose the best with regard to quality, service, availability, price and brand image. It is, therefore, essential for India to produce clean milk if the dairy industry is to survive in the open world market. If raw milk has a heavy bacterial load and bad quality, then all efforts to produce good products will be futile. Growth prospects in the dairy sector are bright. India is emerging as a mega dairy market of the 21st century. The recent liberalization has thrown a bagful of opportunities for dairy entrepreneurs. It is very important to improve the quality of milk to export it in international market. Now it is time for a Quality Revolution in India’s dairy sector, which is possible only through wide-spread adoption of modern technologies for clean milk production, processing, storage, transportation, and marketing of milk and milk products. Raw milk handling needs to be upgraded in terms of physico-chemical and microbiological attributes of the milk collected. The use of clarification and bactofugation in raw milk processing can help improve quality of the milk products. Better operational efficiencies are needed to improve yields, reduce waste, minimize fat/protein losses during processing, control production costs, save energy and extend shelf-life. The adoption of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and HACCP would help manufacture milk products conforming to international standards and thus make their exports competitive. Latest packaging technology can help in retaining nutritive value of packaged products and extend their shelf-life.
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Clean milk
Clean milk is the milk that comes from the udder of a clean and healthy milch animal, kept in clean environment, drawn by clean people using clean utensils, clean equipment and clean methods and processed in clean environment as being done in European countries. Clean milk retains the natural quality and freshness of milk, and does not contain extraneous matter and harmful bacteria. As per international standard the quality of milk is considered to be good if it contains fewer bacteria. This type of
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milk, when stored at a constant temperature of 15 ºC, should be expected to stay fit for consumption for 72 hours from the time of milking.
Earlier, the quality of milk was determined on the basis of fat and SNF content, which does not fulfill the quality requirements now. The quality of milk needs to be graded on the number of micro-organisms present in milk. Milk must be brought to a temperature of 4 ºC within one hour of milking. As far as possible, it should be stored around 4 ºC, as an increase in temperature increases bacterial activities. If the milk is not chilled
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90
Dairy Year Book 2008 |
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