SOME PROPERTIES OF THE RAW MILK PRODUCED IN ÇANAKALE (YENICE) AND SUBCLINICAL MASTITIS INCIDENCE

Subclinical mastitis that causes significant economic losses in husbandry has been the most important case in the world and in our country. Since subclinical mastitis is not noticeable, it is involved in milk and dairy products. In this study, physical properties- pH, electrical conductivity, and freezing point-, chemical properties - fat, protein, lactose, fat free dry matter and mineral matter content-, and biological properties - total aerobic mesophilic bacteria (TAMB) and total coliform bacteria counts and Escherichia coli incidence of 134 raw milk samples of Çanakkale-Yenice were investigated. In addition, subclinical mastitis incidence was defined by determining the number of somatic cells in the samples and their California mastitis test (CMT) values. The relationship between subclinical mastitis incidence and other milk properties was investigated. The mean pH, EI and DN values of the raw milks sampled were 6.75±0.01, 5.83×10-3S/cm and -0.5296±0.002, respectively, while protein, lactose, mineral matter and fat contents were 3.37%±0.03%, 4.99±0.03%, 0.64±0.01% and 3.10±0.06%, respectively. 99.2% of the samples were found to contain TAMB higher than 5logcfu/mL and 13.4% were found to include E. coli. The relationship between subclinical mastitis and these values have been also investigated. The incidence of subclinical mastitis in Çanakkale-Yenice was determined as 59%. Only the difference between CMT values of subclinical mastitis milk (CMT value ≥2) and healthy milk (CMT value lt;2) was found to be statistically significant (p lt;0.001). There was no strong correlation between CMT, SHS, and EI values and other milk properties (r lt;±0.500).