ARAWALI VETERINARY COLLEGE

SIKAR

Department Of Livestock Production Technology

Physicochemical Properties of Milk

Presented By- Abhinav Gupta

2019-2020
Content-

Colour Density
Flavour Refractive index
Taste Viscosity
Odour Surface tension
PH Freezing point
Specific Boiling point
gravity Cream line
Importance of properties:

Helps in detection of adulteration.

Helps is determining quality of milk.

Helps in processing of milk & milk products.

Helps in evaluating physical changes in milk

& milk products during processing.
1- Colour:
 Cow milk is whitish or yellowish in colour due to
carotene.
 Buffalo, goat, sheep milk is white.
 Skim milk appear bluish-white in colour due to
Riboflavin.
 Sometime milk is greenish in colour due to whey
protien.
 Colour of milk usually due to reflection of light by
fat globules and casein protien.
2- Flavour:

 Milk flavour is attributed by fat, lactose, minerals

(chlorine) and protein.
 Chlorine lactose no. – 1.2 to 2 (good)
more than 2 (salty)
less than 1.2 (off flavour)
 Off flavour is also contributed by bacterial
contamination, storage.

3- Taste:

 Milk is usually somewhat salty in nature (due to

presence of minerals mainly chorine ).
 Milk taste changed in case of :
 Souring: due to increased acidity.
 Boiling: due to certain biochemical changes
and evaporation of volatile fatty acids.
 Late stage of lactation: due to increase
chloride percent.
 Mastitis: inflammation of udder.
4- Odour:
Characteristic milky odor.
5- PH:

Milk PH usually somewhat acidic in nature.

Cow’s milk 6.4 to 6.6

Buffalo’s milk 6.6 to 6.8
Milk pH changed to alkaline in case of:
Mastitis
Late period of lactation.
If the milk left to stand for a long period
specially in warm temperature, lactose is
fermented to lactic acid by bacteria present
normally in milk as:
* Streptococcus Lactis.
* Lactobacillus Lactis.
Result in decrease in milk PH and milk Souring.
6- Specific Gravity:
It is the ratio between weight of a given volume of
milk compared with the same volume of water at a
specific temperature.
 It measure total solids of milk, and determine if any
constituent added or removed from milk..
 Measured by Lactometer.
 Normal specific gravity:
 1.028 – 1032 Cow's milk.
 1.030– 1.034 Buffalo’s milk.
 Fat is the only constituent in milk with specific
gravity lower than 1.0, so, when fat present
in milk in high amount, specific gravity
decrease than normal values.
 When milk is skimmed (removal of fat
content), the specific gravity increased due to:
Removal of light constituents of milk.
 When water is added to milk (adulteration)
the specific gravity decreased due to dilution
of total solids.
7- Density:

It is the ratio of mass of milk to volume of milk.

Density of milk is 1.027 to 1.033 g/cm3.

 Density of milk is measured by

Hydrometer.
8- Refractive index:

 Refractive index of milk is-

RI 1.3440 to 1.3485
9- Viscosity:
 Viscosity of milk depend on composition of milk,
temperature, physical state of its colloidal
particles and milk fat.
Increase in temperature, viscosity of milk
decrease (upto sudden extent).
Homogenization process increase viscosity of
milk.
Instrument used for measuring viscosity is
Viscosimeter.
Viscosity of milk 1.5 to 2 Cp at 200C
Viscosity of mikj beyond 65oC increase due to
denaturation of whey protein.
10- Surface tension:

 Surface tension of milk 50 dyne/cm.

11- Freezing point of milk:
 It is the temperature at which the liquid milk
freeze or crystallize.
 The freezing point of cow or buffalo milk ranges
from (-0.535) to (-0.555) °C with average (-
0.545) °C
 Milk freezes at a temperature slightly lower
than that of water due to the soluble
constituents in milk such as lactose, minerals
which lower the freezing point.
12- Boiling Point:
 Milk boiling point is 100.14 °C , more than
water due to presence of dissolving
substances.

13- Cream Line Formation:

 When milk left at room temperature the
fat globules coalesce, clumped at surface
of the container and form cream line.
Thank you