Composition of goat milk in Grenada, West Indies: Apreliminary study

Abstract

Goat farming is a common practice on the island of Grenada, West Indies. In the years post-Hurricane Ivan (2004), the dairy goat industry has been gradually evolving into a commercial entity, in order to provide goat milk and milk products to the community. Vital to the sustainability of this industry is the maintenance of a high-quality and reproducible product. However, there are no data available on the current composition of goat milk in Grenada. This preliminary study was undertaken to assess the composition of goat milk to assist farmers in the further development of the Grenada goat milk industry. Using a commercial milk analyzer, 115 goat milk samples from four Grenada parishes were analyzed. The results gave an average of dairy goat milk composition in Grenada, including values for fat (4.53%), protein (3.47%), non-fat solids (9.07%), lactose (4.91%), and total solids (13.60%). Milk values were significantly different among the four parishes, with St. Patrick having the lowest values and St. Andrew the highest. Additionally, there was no significant difference between values derived for Grenada versus those recently reported in the neighboring island of Trinidad. The composition of goat milk in Grenada and the differences among parishes is hypothesized to be influenced in large part by nutrition. Future plans are underway 1) to advise goat farmers on the husbandry and feeding of goats to optimize the quality of milk and 2) to perform updated analyses on the milk composition post-implementation.