Churning efficiency and microbial quality of butter made from camel milk alone and blending it with goat milk

In this study, the churning efficiency of milk sample for buttermaking from camel milk by blending it with goat milk and microbiological quality of butter made at different blending levels were assessed. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized design with five treatments: T1 (100% camel milk), T2 (75% camel and 25% goat milk), T3 (50% camel and 50% goat milk), T4 (25% camel and 75% goat milk) and T5 (100% goat milk). The churning efficiency and microbiological quality of the milk and butter samples were analyzed following standard procedures. The fermentation time (11.33 days), churning time (121.7 min) and churning temperature (28°C) of T1 were significantly (P < 0.001) higher than the other milk samples. T1 had significantly (P < 0.001) lower churning pH (4.13) and butter yield (49.3 g/L) than the other samples. T3 and T4 had significantly (P < 0.001) higher butter yield than the other milk samples. The fermentation time, churning time and churning temperature of T5 were significantly (P < 0.001) lower than the rest and T5 required significantly (P < 0.001) higher churning pH than the other milk samples. The coliform count (CC), enterobacteriaceae count (EBC), lipolytic bacteria count (LBC) and yeast and mould count (YMC) of T1 was significantly (P < 0.001) higher than the other butter samples. The CC, EC and total bacteria count (TBC) of T5 was significantly (P < 0.001) higher than T2, T3 and T4 and it had significantly (P < 0.001) lower TBC than the others. The results showed that blending camel milk with goat milk improved churning efficiency and microbial quality of butter made from camel milk at different blending levels. Although butter can be made from pure camel milk, it took longer churning time and fermentation time. Thus, research is needed in order to reduce the churning time, improve the yield of butter and microbial quality made from pure and blended camel milk by manipulating the operating parameters viz., pH of the milk, churning temperature, method of churning and volume of milk in the churn.