Assessment of Traditional Way of Value Addition Practices on Processing of Milk and Milk Products in Selected Districts of South Omo Zone

Abstract

The study was carried out to evaluate, identify, and characterize various traditional milk preservative plants and investigate their indigenous techniques of handling, processing and preserving in the South-Ari and Maale districts. Data were collected from 196 households by purposive sampling, interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire, and analyzed using SPSS. More than 12 indigenous preservative plants that were commonly used by the respondents were identified and collected. In the South-Ari district all (100%) respondents used plant species of Lippia adoensis Hochst, Cordia Monoica Roxb., Leucas Deflexa Hook.f and Satureja Paradoxa, while in the Maale district 63.5% of the respondents used only fresh Balanites Aegyptiaca leaves to clean the milk utensils while 36.5% used fresh leaves of Solanum Incanu, Hoslundia Opposita, Balanites Aegyptiaca, Lantana Camara, and Celosia Trigyna. as washing milking and storage vessels. About 96% of the plants frequently used to smoke milk equipment in the South-Ari district were Clerodendrum Myricoides, Eucalyptus Globulus and Olea Africana while almost all (99%) households in the Maale district smoked milk utensils with Balanites aegyptiaca, Solanum Incanum, Lantana Camara, and Ocimum Forskolei Benth. The application methods were through rubbing, burning, and both burning and immersion in the milk vessels. The main cause of the loss of milk after harvest in the South Ari (93.7%) and Maale (40%) districts was milk spoilage. The majority of the 92% in South-Ari and 66.7% in Maale respondents minimize milk spoilage by consuming early or selling to the market. It could be concluded that the herbal plants identified in this study required further examination and their impact on the health of consumers should be studied in detail.