Buffalo milk quality: a study of seasonal influence on composition and somatic cell count

Despite buffalo milk being an important food worldwide, not much is known about factors that influence its quality on Brazilian buffalo milk farms. It ranks second in total volume of milk production, with cow milk in first place, but a lack of minimum legal parameters for buffalo milk is another problem faced by some countries, as it happens in Brazil where buffalo population represents less than one percent of dairy cows, even though Brazilian buffalo herd is one of the largest in Latin America, with a successful dairy processing chain. This study investigated the composition and somatic cell counts (SCC) of buffalo milk produced in a high-altitude tropical region in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, where buffalo calving naturally happens from February to May. A total of 2,211 samples of raw milk were analyzed for compositional parameters (fat, protein, lactose, total solids and solids nonfat) using Fourier Transform Infrared-FTIR and for SCC using flow cytometry. Official climatological data were also collected. Descriptive, multivariate statistics and principal component analysis (PCA) were used. The highest fat, protein, solids nonfat and total solids concentrations were recorded during the summer and spring seasons, 6.01 and 6.31g/100g for fat, 4.23 and 4.18g/100g for protein, 9.93 and 9.92g/100g for SNF, and 15.95 and 16.23g/100g for TS, respectively. Lactose, however, had the lowest concentration observed in the same seasons, 4.76 and 4.75g/100g, respectively. The component with the highest correlation to SCC was lactose, with the highest SCC values during spring, which was similar to the SCC during the fall. The concentrations of buffalo milk components were influenced by the season with an opposite trend when compared with cow milk. However, buffalo milk SCC was usually lower than the counts reported for cow milk in the same region. Upcoming studies must include data as well weighted averages to estimate the financial impact of this oscillation during the year and for milk quality payment.