Creamatocrit as a rapid method to estimate the contents of total milk lipids

Abstract

The Gerber test has been extensively used as an extremely accurate standard method for determining the content of milk lipids. However, it is risky to laboratory workers and hazardous to the environment due to the need for use of reagents. The research and development of alternative methods is of great importance especially for industrial application. In this work, the Creamatocrit method is evaluated to estimate the content of milk fatty material from mammals. Capillary tubes were filled with milk samples and centrifuged at 15 000 rpm for 5 min using an adequate micro centrifuge. The total content of lipids was determined by taking the ratio between the cream phase and the total sample length within the capillary tube. The results obtained show a satisfactory correlation (0.968) between the Creamatocrit and Gerber methods. Thus, we propose the use of the Creamatocrit method as an advantageous alternative to the Gerber method for industrial purposes.