Chemical and Microbiological Quality of Raw Milk Produced by Smallholder Farmers in Zimbabwe

Chemical and microbiological analyses were carried out on 10 samples of raw milk collected over 6 months from the Nharira/Lancashire Milk Collection Center. The milk center is run by smallholder farmers. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the quality of the raw milk delivered to the milk collection center. The average chemical characteristics of the milk were (%): titratable acidity expressed as lactic acid, 0.21; total protein, 3.19; fat, 3.52; total solids, 11.76; and solids not fat, 8.25; the pH varied from 6.15 to 6.65. There were large variations in the microbiological composition of the raw milk with total aerobic counts ranging from 6.2 × 10³ to 7.8 × 107 CFU/ml, coli forms from 3.2 × 10² to 2.3 × 105, and lactic acid bacteria from less than 1 × 10³ to 2.9 × 10⁶ CFU/ml. Yeasts and molds were less than 100 CFU/ml in 7 of the 10 samples analyzed.