Physicochemical Analysis and Microbial Quality of Cow Butter Obtained from Menz District of Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Lina Gazu Mego; Tewodros Eshetea; Getachew Kassa

Authors

Lina Gazu Mego Debre Berhan University, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences, Animal Science Department, P.O. Box 445 Debre Berhan, ETHIOPIA
Tewodros Eshetea Debre Berhan University, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences, Animal Science Department, P.O. Box 445 Debre Berhan, ETHIOPIA https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5366-5346
Getachew Kassa Debre Berhan University, College of Natural and Computational Science, Biotechnology Department, ETHIOPIA

Keywords:

Bacterial Count, Fat Content, Moisture Content

Abstract

Menz has long been known for its quality butter production but traditional milk products are reported to be of substandard quality. Therefore, this investigation was conducted to access physiochemical and microbial quality of butter from Menz district along the market value chain. The microbiological count data were transformed to log10 values before statistical analysis. Overall values of 15.05:82.62:2.09%, 14.26:83.44:2.77%, 14.25:83.30:1.03%, 14.58:83.82: 3.58% and 12.52: 83.96: 2.82% moisture, fat and free fatty acid contents were observed in samples from farmers, traders, made by investigators, Tarmaber and Addis Ababa, respectively. Overall mean score of total aerobic mesophilic bacterial count ranging from 3.26 x10⁹(sample made by invigilator) to 4.20 x 10⁹(sample from Addis Ababa) were recorded. Similarly, the total coliform count ranges from 1.61 x 10⁶ to 3.03 x10⁶ and the yeast and mold counts vary from 1.31 x10⁶ to 1.83 x10⁶ from samples collected at different butter market value chains. There is unhygienic production and processing of butter in the study area which calls for improvement.