Raw cow milk nutritional content and microbiological quality predictors of South Gondar zone dairy farmers in Ethiopia, 2020

Chalachew Yenew; Fitalew Tadele; Binyam Minuye; Ermiyas Sisay; Tadesse Asmamaw; Sileshi Mulatu; Biruk Demissie

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11020

Raw cow milk nutritional content and microbiological quality predictors of South Gondar zone dairy farmers in Ethiopia, 2020

Heliyon. 2022 Oct 10;8(10):e11020. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11020. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Authors

Chalachew Yenew¹, Fitalew Tadele², Binyam Minuye³, Ermiyas Sisay³, Tadesse Asmamaw⁴, Sileshi Mulatu⁵, Biruk Demissie¹

Affiliations

¹ Social and Public Health Unit (Environmental Health), College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor University, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia.
² Department of Biomedical Sciences (Medical Biochemistry), College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor University, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia.
³ Department of Nursing, College of Health Science, Debre Tabor University, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia.
⁴ Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Ethiopia.
⁵ Pediatrics and Child Health Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Science, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia.

Abstract

Background: Raw milk is a good growth medium for microbes because of its neutral pH and nutrient content. In Ethiopia; few studies were done to assess the microbial quality of raw cow milk. But, none of them focused on the nutrient content of raw cow milk. Therefore; this study aimed at evaluating raw cow milk nutrient content and predictors of microbial quality of raw cow milk among milk in the dairy farmers of South Gondar zone (SGZ), Ethiopia.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January to May 2020. 160 randomly selected raw cow milk, water, and utensil samples each were collected for microbial analysis. Besides, nutrient content indicators such as TotalSolid (TS), and Specific Gravity (SG) were analyzed from milk samples. Sequentially, The Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of millers were also assessed using a pretested structured questionnaire. Chi-square test and multiple linear regression models were used.

Results: The overall mean SG and TS of raw cow milk were 1.027 (95% CI, 1.013-1.039) and 12.55% (95%CI, 12.20%-12.89%) respectively.38.13% had the better nutrient content, and the rest, 61.87% of raw cow milk hadn't the better nutrient content. Besides, the mean (SD) in log CFU/100mL-1of the Escherichia coli count of raw cow milk was 15 (0.3). Educational status, milk handling experience, KAP of milkers, water microbial count, Nutrient content, and microbial load of milk utensils were independently predicted microbial quality of raw cow milk.

Conclusions and implications: The result signifies that the raw cow milk hadn't better nutrient content and the educational status and KAP of milkers, and the qualities of water were the major factors affecting the microbial quality of raw cow milk. It could greatly affect the Food and Nutrition Security of the country. Hence, measures should be taken to enhance the KAP of milkers for improving this enteropathy.

Keywords: Ethiopia; Food security; Milk quality; Milk safety; Raw milk.