Milk & Milk products Spoilage

Milk: Unique flavor and texture

Rejected if off flavor or other
defects
Spoilage occur by Biochemical
reactions of contaminating
bacteria (initiated after milking)
Manifestations of spoilage
Lacticacid production/ souring
Proteolysis
Lipolysis
Sweet curdling
 Spoilage Process
 Fermentation-milk constituents by
microbes
 Normal fermentation: curdling
 Abnormal fermentations: Gassiness,
ropiness, proteolysis, sweet curdling,
lipolysis
 Mixed fermentation: two or more
fermentations occur simultaneously
e.g. acid and gas (coliforms)
 Associative action
Combined action (two or more-species
or genera)
Desirable or undesirable
Changes not possible by single microbe
Three types
Synergism
Metabiosis
Antibiosis.
 Synergism
 Changes brought by two microbes (not
single one)
 Mixed starter (Streptococcus lactis &
Leuconostoc spp.)
 Leuconostocs convert citrate to volatile
compounds (only at low pH)& produce
flavour
 Lowering of pH due to lactic acid
production S. lactis.
 Synergism
 Blue discoloration: Pseudomonas
syncyanea only in association with S.
lactis
 Lactic acid bacteria required for 'yeasty
creamy' defect (Candida
pseudotropicalis, Torulopsis
sphaerica) in cream
 Coagulation of milk & foaming for
subsequent gas production by yeasts
 Metabiosis

Food chain is formed

Metabolic end products of one are
utilized as food by other for
producing final change
Swiss cheese: lactose to lactic acid
(bacteria), utilized by
propionibacteria to produce
propionic acid (flavour)
 Metabiosis

 Spoilage of Raw milk at room temp.

Curdling of milk by S. lactis
(precipitation of casein) up to 1 %
acidity
Lactobacilli (L. casei) convert rest of
lactose to lactic acid 2% lactic acid
 Molds (Geotrichum candidum) growth
on surface and reduce acidity by
oxidizing lactic acid to C02 and H20.
 Cont..
Reduced acidity, proteolytic spore
formers (Bacillus spp.) degrade
casein fraction
Sub-sequently lipolytic bacteria
develop and utilize fat fraction
Decomposed mass-water, inorganic
substances, C02, NH3, H2S etc.
 Antibiosis
 One organism inhibits/suppresses
growth of the others
 Lactic acid -bacteria causes the inhibition of
proteolytic organisms (spore formers)
 Starter cultures do not propagate well in
reconstituted milk-certain preformed
substances inhibitory to starter bacteria are
elaborated in milk and get carried over to the
product during subsequent drying
 Natural souring/curdling
 Raw milk held at ambient conditions
Immediate effect is souring followed
by curdling (due to acidity-lactic acid)
by bacteria already present in raw
milk
Fresh milk normal acidity (0.14 to
0.19%)
 Cont..
 Milk sours (0.20 to 0.25%)
 Milk curdles (0.50-0.65%)
 COB test positive (0.30 to 0.45%)
 Acidity increase even after coagulation
of casein till lactic acid producing flora
inhibited or till whole of lactose is
exhausted (acid tolerant organisms
predominate)
 Acid coagulation
 Interaction of lactic acid with calcium bound to
casein-precipitation of casein-curd (pH range
4.64 to 4.78)
 Lactic streptococci - S. lactis, S. cremoris
(room temperature)
Gets inhibited at 1%
 Lactobacilli- L. casei (at room temperature), L.
acidophilus and L. bulgaricus (optimally at
around 40°C).
Gets inhibited beyond 2% level of lactic acid
 Cont..
 Leuconostocs. Leuco. dextranicum and
Leuco. citrovorum-responsible for flavour
development and lower level of lactic acid
 Other streptococci
 S. thermophilus at around 45 C though it is
produced slowly even at lower temperature
range. This organism is also capable of
surviving higher heat treatments such as
pasteurization.
 S. liquefaciens at about 31C. Milk is rapidly
coagulated followed by proteolysis (causes
the curd to shrink from the walls of the
container and separation of whey).
 Cont..
 Bacillus coagulalls -aerobic spore former-
survive heating and multiply and produce
lactic acid at 31to 55°C.
 Coliforms- E. coli and Enterobacter
aerogenes Produces acid & gas (37°C)
 The coagulum formed by lactic streptococci,
S. themrophilus and lactobacilli is smooth
and with typical clean sour flavour (used as
starter culture for desirable fermentations)
 Cont..
 S. liquefacienls, B. coagulans and
coliforms produce a coagulum with
undesirable flavours due to liberation of
certain volatile flavour substances from
lactose, proteins and milk
 Organisms present in raw milk varies and
produce coagulum which varies with the
composition of the causative microflora.
 Sources of flora
 Atthe farm level from
 Utensils
 Coat of the cow
 Feed (silage, grains etc.)
 Faecal matter
 Environment
 Malpractices
 Neutralization with caustic soda to mask
the developed acidity and escape the
rejection of milk
 Control measures
 Practiced under hygienic conditions to
minimize entry of acid-producing organisms
 Immediate chilling of raw milk
 Clean/ Sanitized Utensils and equipments
involved in milk production, collection and
transportation s
 Holding of milk needs to be minimized
 Adequate pasteurization of milk followed by
cooling
 Household levels heated immediately and
stored in refrigerator.
 Gas production
 Cream: production of gas (mainly CO2) by
micro-organisms responsible for defect called
'gassiness‘
 Foaming as the gas escapes the partially
coagulated mass-defect frothiness
 Frothiness-associative action of acid
producing bacteria & gas producing yeasts.
 Gassy cream- accompanied by yeasty odour
called yeasty cream
 Cont..
 Gas production in canned dairy products-bulging
of cans/blowing of cans
 Lactose fermenting yeasts-Candida
pseudotropicalis, Torulopsis sphaerica produce
C02 and ethyl alcohol in milk, cream, whey at or
below 31C
 Acid tolerant-grow under acidic conditions (as
in sour cream)
 Coliforms: Escherichia coli, Enterobacter
aerogenes ferment lactose into gas and acid
 Gas escapes before coagulation of casein-no
frothiness unlike that in yeast fermentation.
 Anaerobic spore forming bacteria Cl.
butyricum, Cl. pasteurianum Cl.
Sporogenes-produce gas anaerobic
conditions
 Growwell if acid producers are destroyed
by heating and the product has anaerobic
atmosphere e.g. in canned dairy products
Sources of gas producing organism
Soil,manure, feed or utensils
Coliforms mainly associated with
faecal contamination
Clostridia through feed (silage) and
manure
 Control measures

 Avoid excessive contamination of milk/cream from potent

sources at the farm level
 Milch animal be cleaned/washed before milking
 Feed or manure particles should not be allowed to fall in
milk
 Milk - utensils should be cleaned properly
 Holding of milk and cream under ambient conditions
should be minimized
 The heat treatment given to the product should be
adequate (kill heat-sensitive gas producers-coliforms)
 Ropiness/sliminess

 Growth of bacteria leading to change in

consistency that forms threads or viscous
masses when poured
 Ropy material may be tough and doughy
due to acid-producing bacteria. Causative
organisms
 Lipolytic/ Hydrolytic rancidity
Rancidity from hydrolysis of milkfat
Caused by enzyme lipoprotein lipase (LPL)
Flavour-short chain fatty acidssuch as
butyric acid
LPL indigenous or bacterial
Active at the fat/water interface (ineffective
unless the fat globule membrane is damaged-
agitation, foaming, and pumping.
•Homogenized milk-rapid lipolysis
unless lipase is destroyed by heating
(enzyme denatured at 55-60˚ C)
Homogenize milk immediately
before or after pasteurization and
avoid mixing new milk because it
leads to rapid rancidity.
•Some cows can produce spontaneous
lipolysis from reacting to something
indigenous to the milk.
Late lactation, mastitis, hay and grain
ration diets (more so than fresh forage
or silage), and low yielding cows are
more suseptible.
Lipolysis can be detected by measuring the
acid degree value which determines the
presence of free fatty acids.