SOME INDICES’ DETERMINATION OF RAW AND PASTEURIZED COW MILK BY UKRAINIAN MANUFACTURERS USING UNIQUE EXPRESS METHODS

Abstract

According to the Regulation (EC) of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union No. 852/2004 and No. 853/2004 “Оn the hygiene of foodstuffs” dated April 29, 2004, Ukrainian producers of both pasteurized and raw cow's milk should be guided by regulatory acts, in particular, DSTU 2661:2010 “Drinkable cow’s milk. General technical conditions” and DSTU 3662:2015 “Cow’s milk-raw. Technical conditions”, which are harmonized to the requirements of the EU, and are regulating the safety and quality of milk for adhering to the proper sanitary and hygienic requirements of their primary production and industrial processing, and use modern, effective developed and tested rapid control methods of milk and dairy products for their falsification. Taking into account that today the falsification of milk as pasteurized and raw is not a rare occurrence, it is especially important to develop and introduce new express methods for the detection of various chemical reagents in dairy products that impair their quality and can affect their safety. We have developed simple, effective, reliable express methods: the determination of the number of somatic cells in milk by using Reagent N; detection of milk falsification by sodium bicarbonate using an alcoholic solution of bromocresol green with a mass concentration of 0.01%; as well as by alkaline detergents using an alcoholic solution of bromotymol blue with a mass concentration of 0.02%. Determination of the number of somatic cells in cow's milk by express method using Reagent N gave a 99.8% confidence in qualitative indices. The colour and consistency of milk varies, depending on the number of somatic cells – from liquid with bright orange to the formation of a jelly-like clay dark-raspberry colour which is easily removed from the hole of the dairy plate. An express method for detecting falsification of milk by sodium bicarbonate has the following advantages over existing commonly used methods: the results are specific, with a reliable qualitative index of 99.9%, consisting in changing the colour of the circular layer of milk, depending on the amount of baking soda added to it. In the absence of sodium hydro-carbonate, the colour of the circular layer of milk has a dark green colour, and if it is present, it acquires a dark blue-green colour of varying intensity. The express method of the milk falsification determining by alkaline detergents is easy to implement, and its results give specific qualitative indicators of 99.9%. Depending on the amount of alkaline detergents added to the container with milk (up to 1, 5, 10%), the milk acquires a blue colour varying intensity.