C o l o u r

Milk is a liquid of yellow white colour .

colour varies from bluish white to light yellow,depending upon the breed of the cow, the feedfed
to the cow, and the quantity of fat and other
solids present in it
Cows milk is yellow white that of buffloe sheep,goat and other Spp. is white.
yellow colour of the milk is due to a pigmentknown as carotene which is synthesized fromthe
green feed fed to the cow
conversion of carotenes into Vit.A chieflyoccures in liver.
In case of buffaloe milk this change iscomplete and thus buffaloe milk is white.
In case of cows this conversion of caroteneinto Vit.A is partial so cows milk is yellow incolour.
The white colour (apolescence) of milk is dueto reflection of light by the fat globules and
thecolloidal protein, calcium caseinate & phosphate
The bluish Colour of separated milk or whey is due to another pigment known asRiboflavin
(Vit.B

) or Lactochrome.
2 . T a s t e

Milk is slightly sweet in taste. This is dueto the presence of lactose (Milk Sugar) init.

The Sweet taste of lactose is balancedagainst the salty taste of chloride in Milk.3.
Smell
Milk has got a characteristic odour of its
own, when it is drawn from the udder.

Freshly drawn milk has a cowey odour whichdisappears when kept exposed for some time

milk has got the capacity to acquire odour from thesurrounding and also from the feed etc. but
theseodours are abnormal.

Milk has develops odour due to bacterial action andchange in its chemical composition

Certain metals may have an adverse effect on theflavour of the milk which comes in contact
withthem the metals are like
copper, and copper alloys, asnickel, brass, bronze
etc.

Rusty cans or other rusty surfaces may proveharmful producing a metallic or tallowy
flavors.4.
Acid base Equilibrium

Freshly drawn milk has got AmphotericReaction i.e. it changes red litmus blue and
bluelitmus red.

Its average pH value is 6.7

on titrating it with an alkali it is found to contain0.1 to 0.17% acidity.

This acidity is not due to lactic acid (Developed)but due to phosphates of milk proteins
Citratesand carbon dioxide present in milk (Natural).
V i s c o s i t y

It is the resistance to flow and is the reverseof fluidity. Viscosity is the property of
allfluids. It can be expressed in only relativeterms and for convenience the
relativeviscosity of any fluid is compared with water.

Water flows with ease .Syrup and honey pourmuch more slowly and posses
greaterviscosity.

Milk is 1.5to 1.7 times more viscous

than water owing tothe presence of solids in milk.
Factors affecting viscosity
~Temperature (At O
0
C milk has a fluidity of 0.233 and water has afluidity of 0.558 & At 20
0
C, these values change to 0.473 and 1.00
)~fat content ~homogenization~souring~ageing~microbial growth~high heating followed by
cooling
Representative values of viscisity of milk @20
0
c
~whole milk-2.0 cp ~ skim milk-1.5 cp ~whey-1.2 cp
salient contributors
~ c a s e i n a t e m i c e l l e s ~ F a t g l o b u l e s
Heating the milk to pasteurizationtemperature or agitating it lowers theviscosity.

A d h e s i v e n e s s o f m i l k

A piece of paper moistened with milk sticks to a flat surface of wood, glass or metal. This
property is undoubtedly due tocasein, which is used in large quantities inthe manufacture of
casein glue, one of thestrongest glues made.

10.Refractive index

Milk has a R.I. of about
1.35
. that of water being 1.33

Addition of water would therefore lower therefractve index of milk

But since considerable variation is found invalues for genuine milk, it is not possible touse this
property alone as a criterion for thegenuineness of milk samples
Surface Tension

Compared with water the surface tension of milkis low(Milk-50 ;water-
72.75 dynes/cm 20
0
C)

Some what higher values are shown byseparated milk while cream has a lower
surfacetension

The colloidal constituents particularly theproteins are responsible for this lowering
of surface tension have a tendency to getconcentrated at liquid/air interface.

Decreased ST with Increase in temp./fat content

12. Cream Rising

When whole milk is permitted to stand, the fatrises to the top and eventually
forms a layer packed with fat globulescalled cream.

The difference in Sp. Gravity between themilk serum and milk fat is one of the
mostimportant factors responsible for creamrising .

At least for the rapid and complete risingof the milk fat, the fat globules mustaggregate
or clump together.

The rate of creaming ,then, is dependanton the factors that affect Clumping

The fat particles are held together in theclumps by the mucin - like materialsurrounding
each fat particle .
13.
Foaming


Milk has the property of forming formon agitation.

Foam is due to the formation of
aphysical phase in which air becomesincorporated in the milk with thinlayers of milk
separating the airbubblers from one-another .

The capacity for foaming is due tomaterials lowering the surface tension

The milk protein and fat reduce surfacetension and therefore are the causes of the
foaming capacity.
Milk fat not only increases the foamingcapacity but also increases the stability of the
foam. Milk foam is unstable andbreaks down when allowed to stand.

O/R Potential-

Fresh milk exhibits a potential of +0.20to +0.30 v at noble metal electrodes.

The dissolved 0
2
plays a major role.

Ascorbate, lactates , riboflavin areprincipal contributors
Electrical Conductivity:-
Considered a possible index of :~ Mastitis infection~ Added water~ Added
neutralizes.~Means of controlling solid conc.The specific conductance of milkreflects its
conc. & activity ions andis of the order of 0.005 siemens(ohms-1cm-1) at 250 CRange-
0.0040 - 0.0055

Specific Gravity of milk

The specific gravity of freshly drawnmilk is lower than sp. gravityobtained, after an hour
or later.

The rise in sp. gr. is regular ,more rapidat low temperature than at higher onesand
amounts on an average to 0.001. This is called Recknagelsphenomenon and is
attributed to:i . C h a n g e i n t h e s p . g r . O f f a t d u e
t o p a r t i a l cooling and solidification.
H y d r a t i o n o f t h e
p r o t e i n s . i i i . L o s s o f c a r b o n d i o x i d e . i v . P r e s e n c e o f
a i r b u b b l e s .

The sp. gravity .of a fluid varies with itstemperature.

Water reaches its maximum sp. gravity at 39
0
For 3.9
0
c ,while milk does not attain its maximumSp. gravity until a temperature of 31.01
0
F or 0.55
0
c, the freezing point of milk, is reached.

As the milk fat is the lightest constituent of milk,the more that is present the lower the
sp. gravityand the greater the percentage of SNF theheavier the milk will be
The Sp.gravity ranges from 1.025 to1.032at 60
0
F or 15.5
0
c

skim milk is heavier than whole milk, theSp.gravity varying from 1.032 to 1.037

variations in Sp.gravity are due to variationin amount of various constituents.

Milk fat has a Sp.gravity of 0.935 to 0.945,milk sugar 1.67; salts about 4.0; andproteins
1.31 to 1.346.
6 . F r e e z i n g P o i n t

Milk freezes at -0.55
0
C to -0.56
0
C (31.0 to30.96
0
F). Skim, whole milk or cream havesame FP
Milk has lower freezing point is than waterdue to the presence of lactose and salts
inaqueous phase.

The freezing point is affected by :~ Increased acidity (Decrease FP)~addition
of preservatives (Decrease FP) ~addition of water
7 . B o i l i n g P o i n t

Milk is slightly heavier than water becauseof its solute content and boiling point of
aliquid is influenced by factors responsiblefor its Sp.gravity.

Milk boils at a temperature slightly higher than water.



water boils at 212
0
F (100
0
C) at sea level, whileaverage milk boils at 212.3
0
F (100.17
0
C)