Abstract

Bacterial activities of milk obtained from Savanna brown doe, were chemically assessed before and after pasteurization. A total of 60 L of milk was collected from a randomly selected doe in 10 different herds within Minna, and was stratified into 3 treatments (T₁ - T₃), with 5 replicates (R₁ - R₅), in a completely randomized design (CRD). After collection one quarter of it was homogenously pooled and immediately taken to the laboratory for analysis (T₁), the other portion was left on the laboratory table to ferment (T₂) .The last quarter was pasteurized using the145^°F (63^°C) for 30 min (LTLT) (T₃). The biochemical results revealed an uneven disparity in all the treatments with high protein for fresh milk while fat was highest for pasteurized milk, this could be attributed to low activity of proteolytic and spoilage microorganism in fresh milk and the multiplication of fat splitting microorganism in the unpasteurized milk, the bacterial count (Pseudomonas, Lactobacillus,Bacillus, Staphylococcus and streptococcus) and frequently occurrence in treatments T₁ - T₂ indicate that these treatments was heavily loaded with different types of bacteria (proteolytic, lipolytic, coliform and lactic acid) when compared with T₃ (pasteurized), this could be due to lack of proper hygienic measure at all stages of collection and storage and/or pasteurization and diseased udder at the time of milk collection. Producer of milk and milk products should be pasteurized immediately after collection and should observe absolute aseptic measures when handling milk and milk products.

Key words: Savanna brown doe, milk keeping quality.