American Journal of Food and Nutrition, 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1, 7-15 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajfn/9/1/2 Published by Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/ajfn-9-1-2 Biochemical and Microbiological Characteristics of Raw Milk and Curdled Milk Originated from the Central Region of Burkina Faso Clarisse S. COMPAORE 1,* , Fidèle W. TAPSOBA 1 , Charles PARKOUDA 1 , René KOMPAORE 1,2 , Romaric G. BAYILI 1 , Bréhima DIAWARA 1 , Aly SAVADOGO 2 , Lene JESPERSEN 3 , Hagrétou SAWADOGO-LINGANI 1 1 Département Technologie Alimentaire, Institut de Recherche en Sciences Appliquées et Technologies, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, (CNRST/IRSAT/DTA), 03 BP 7047 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso 2 Département de Biochimie-Microbiologie, Laboratoire de Biochimie et d’Immunologie Appliquée, Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, 03 BP 7021 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso 3 Department of Food Science, Faculty of Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 26, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark *Corresponding author: Received October 23, 2020; Revised November 24, 2020; Accepted December 03, 2020 Abstract Milk and dairy products play an important role in human nutrition in Burkina Faso as in several developing countries. This study aimed to describe the curdled milk process in the Central region of Burkina Faso through a monitoring of the production and to study the biochemical and microbiological characteristics of raw milk and curdled milk. Microbiological and biochemical characteristics of the products were determined using standard methods. Biodiversity of lactic acid bacteria in curdled milk was determined using (GTG) 5-PCR and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Processing of curdled milk takes place in calabashes or plastic containers, without heat treatment of raw milk. The fermentation is spontaneous and lasts for 24 - 48 h at ambient temperature. Biochemical analysis showed a low mean pH of curdled milk (4.34 ± 0.10) compared to that of raw milk (6.47 ± 0.02). Dry matter (DM), protein and lipid contents were respectively 7.85%; 16.96 g/L DM and 37.11 g/L DM for raw milk while those of curdled milk were 15.85%; 20.85 g/L DM and 27.03 g/L DM. An increase from 0.22 to 0.37 g/L DM of phosphorus and from 1.10 to 2.46 of calcium was observed with the fermentation. However, iron and zinc contents obtained were 0.55 mg/L DM and 1.97 mg/L DM for raw milk and 0.27 mg/L and 1.6 mg/L for curdled milk, respectively. Microbiological analyzes indicated a high number of aerobic mesophilic bacteria for raw milk (1.9. 10 7 UFC/mL) as for curdled milk (3.9. 10 8 UFC/mL). In addition, Enterobacteriaceae counts from raw milk and curdled milk were higher than the acceptable limit of 10 2 CFU/mL for dairy products. Lactobacillus fermentum, Enterococcus durans/feacium, Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus helveticus and Enterococcus feacalis were the predominant species identified in the curdled milk. Keywords: raw milk, curdled milk, characterization, Lactic acid bacteria, Burkina Faso Cite This Article: Clarisse S. COMPAORE, Fidèle W. TAPSOBA, Charles PARKOUDA, René KOMPAORE, Romaric G. BAYILI, Bréhima DIAWARA, Aly SAVADOGO, Lene JESPERSEN, and Hagrétou SAWADOGO-LINGANI, “Biochemical and Microbiological Characteristics of Raw Milk and Curdled Milk Originated from the Central Region of Burkina Faso.” American Journal of Food and Nutrition, vol. 9, no. 1 (2021): 7-15. doi: 10.12691/ajfn-9-1-2. 1. Introduction Breeding plays an important role in Burkina Faso's economy and also contributes to the food and nutrition security of populations by providing them, high nutritional value products such as milk. The potential for milk production is estimated around 250 million liters per year and has been steadily increasing over the last twenty years [1]. The milk produced is sold to dairy processing units or directly to consumers by breeders and small traders. Apart from that, it is transformed traditionally to curdled milk known as lait caillé by typically the Fulani people [2]. This curdled milk is prepared from a spontaneous fermentation of raw cow milk or more seldom from raw goat milk. It is consumed as a beverage or in combination with various cereal based products. Formerly produced and consumed in the family, curdled milk is increasingly popular and marketed in large cities and is an important source of income for stakeholders, hence its socioeconomic importance. In addition, milk and dairy products as spontaneous fermented milk contain several nutrients, such as protein, vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, etc., which are necessary for healthful living of humans of all age groups and both sex [3].