Avaliação da qualidade de leite cru produzido no Alto Sertão Sergipano frente aos parâmetros preconizados pela legislação

Abstract

Bovine milk is the fluid secreted by the female's mammary glands, with the main function of serving as exclusive food for newborns by meeting their nutritional demands, being a food of great importance for human consumption due to its physical - chemical composition. However, due to its physical-chemical composition, milk is considered an ideal culture medium for the development of microorganisms that directly affects the physical-chemical and microbiological quality of this food matrix. The quality of milk is also correlated with the health of the mammary gland, which can be influenced by different factors, such as: milking management, environmental hygiene and utensils used. In order to control and guide the physical, chemical and microbiological quality of milk in Brazil, Normative Instruction 76/2018 of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply was established, which establishes minimum and / or maximum parameters in relation to some physical characteristics -chemical and microbiological. Bearing in mind that dairy farming in the Alto Sertão Sergipano region represents an important social and economic role for the State of Sergipe, this project aimed to assess the physical and chemical quality (fat, protein, lactose, total and defatted solids, density, freezing point, acidity and pH) and microbiological (Standard Plate Count and Somatic Cell Count) of raw milk from five cities in the Alto Sertão Sergipano region in view of the legislative parameters. According to the results obtained, it was possible to verify that all producers obtained the indexes of fat, protein, total solids and non-fat solids within the parameters established through the legislation in force, however for analysis of lactose, density, freezing point, acidity and pH, only parts of the producers met the limits recommended through Normative Instruction 76/2018 of MAPA. As for the microbiological parameters, it was possible to analyze that 55% of the producers evaluated independent of the city did not meet the microbiological criteria for analysis of CPP, which presented indexes above the established maximum. The CCS analyzes, on the other hand, only 5% of the evaluated producers had an unsatisfactory rate. In view of the results obtained for physical - chemical and microbiological analysis, it was possible to identify that there are flaws in the process of obtaining the material that contributed significantly to the nonconformities of the results obtained. The implementation of improvements through lectures and awareness workshops for regional producers and government incentives for better quality production, can be important tools to significantly contribute to improving the quality of raw milk from producers in the highlands of Sergipe.