Quality and safety of camel milk along the value chain in Eastern Ethiopia

Mulugojjam Adugna,Eyassu Seifu,Ameha Kebeded,Reiner Doluschitz

doi:10.7455/ijfs.v2i2.133

Abstract

The safety of camel milk was assessed along the value chain in Erer, eastern Ethiopia. A total of 24 camel milk samples were aseptically collected from producers in Erer (n=12), and wholesalers and retailers (n=12) along the chain. Milk quality parameters were analyzed following standard procedures. The mean (±SD) total bacteria (TBC), Enterobacteriaceae (EC), coliform (CC), spore-forming bacteria (SFBC) and yeast and mould (YMC) counts of the milk samples analyzed were 5.2 ± 1.90, 3.2 ± 2.30, 2.9 ± 2.27, 2.1 ± 2.41 and 2.7 ± 1.61 log10 cfu mL-1, respectively. The TBC, EC, CC and SFBC of milk samples obtained from retailers in the final marketing sites were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those obtained from producers and wholesalers in Erer. Salmonella spp. was detected in milk samples collected from all sites. Other microorganisms isolated from camel milk samples include Staphylococcus aureus (16.2%), Entrobacter spp. (14.9%), Streptococcus spp. (13.5%),Escherichia coli (8.1%), Acinetobacter spp. (7.4%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (6.8%), Klebsiella spp. (6.1%), Bacillus spp. (5.4%), Corynebacterium spp. (5.4%), Micrococcus spp. (4.7%), Lactobacillus spp. (4.1%), Listeria spp. (4.1%), Pseudomonas spp. (2%) and Shigella spp. (1.4% ). The quality of camel milk produced in the study area was generally poor and microbial contamination of camel milk occurs along the value chain while it is transported from the production site to the market. This calls for strict hygienic measures along the entire value chain in order to improve the quality and safety of camel milk produced in the area evaluated.

Highlights

Ethiopia possesses about 2.4 million dromedary camels that places the country third in the World in camel population (FAOSTAT, 2009)
Assessing the quality and safety of camel milk along the value chain, that is, from primary production site until it reaches the final market is of paramount importance in order to devise appropriate intervention strategies aimed at improving its quality and safety
The pH of the milk samples progressively decreased from the time the milk was collected from the producers until it reached the final market in Dire Dawa (Table 1) which takes about three hours while acidity followed the opposite trend

Summary

Introduction

Ethiopia possesses about 2.4 million dromedary camels that places the country third in the World in camel population (FAOSTAT, 2009). The majority of camels are found in the drier areas of the eastern part of the country Because of their outstanding performance in the arid and semiarid areas of the eastern lowlands of Ethiopia, pastoralists rely mainly on camels for their livelihood. In these areas, camels are mainly kept for milk production and produce milk even during the dry season when milk from cattle is scarce (Tafesse, Mekuriaw, & Baars, 2002). Contamination occurs during transportation and storage of the milk Under any of these conditions, microorganisms get into the milk and multiply. Erer is an important camel milk producing area in eastern Ethiopia. This study was conducted to assess the quality and safety of raw camel milk collected along the value chain in Erer, eastern Ethiopia

Methods

Results

Conclusion