A study on microbiological and physicochemical properties of homemade and small scale dairy plant buffalo milk yoghurts

Abstract

In the present study, the physicochemical and microbiological qualities of commercially available yoghurt were investigated. For this purpose, sixty samples of homemade and forty samples of small scale dairy plants buffalo yoghurt were collected, and analyzed in triplicate. The composition of yoghurt samples ranged between for dry matter: 16.93-18.43%, 17.57-18.78%, for fat: 6.76-7.20%, 6.42-760%, for protein: 4.71-5.29%, 5.21-5.45%, for lactose: 3.08-3.25%, 3.11-3.21%, for ash: 0.91-0.93%, 0,91-0.94%, for titratable acidity (TA): 0.91-0.93, 1.07-1.12%, for pH: 4.15-4.17, 3.78-4.15, for the small scale dairy plants and homemade samples, respectively. The microbiological content of homemade and small-scale dairy plants yoghurt samples were investigated for the presence of total aerobic mesophilic bacteria (TAMB) Lactococcus spp., Lactobacillus spp., yeast and mould, coliform bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Salmonella spp. and E. coli. In general, yeast and mould and coliforms were higher in the homemade buffalo yoghurts. S. aureus, Salmonella spp. and E. coli were not found in any of the buffalo yoghurt samples. The results found do not meet the microbiological criteria of the Turkish Food Codex Communique for fermented milk products in terms of coliform and yeast and mould.