A comparative microbiological quality assessment of rural and urban milk samples

Abstract

The present study deals with the comparative microbiological quality assessment of raw cow milk samples procured from rural and urban farms of Sambalpur City, Odisha, India. The bacterial load of both the rural and urban milk samples in terms of total viable count was observed to be much higher than the acceptable limits. The average total viable count of urban sample was observed to be 8.756 ± 0.803 log CFU/ml. The preliminary incubation count was significantly higher in urban samples (8.889 ± 0.424 log CFU/ml) indicating un-hygienic milk production / handling practices. However, the laboratory pasteurization count of the rural milk samples was noted to be comparatively higher than the urban samples (8.083 ± 0.081 log CFU/ml). The enteric microorganisms isolated from both rural and urban milk samples were identified to beEscherichia coli, Enterobacter sp., Klebsiella sp. and Shigella. Salmonella andPseudomonas sp. were present in urban samples alone, indicating the urban samples to be highly contaminated in comparison to that of the rural ones. Key words: Contamination, enteric bacteria, health, quality, raw milk.