African Journal of Food Science and Technology Vol. 3(3) pp. 78-89, April 2012 Available online http://www.interesjournals.org/AJFST Copyright © 2012 International Research Journals Full Length Research Paper A survey on spontaneously fermented buttermilk in Northern Ethiopia Negussie Gebreselassie 1,2 , Roger K. Abrahamsen 1 , Fekadu Beyene 3 and Judith A Narvhus 1 1 Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Ås, Norway 2 Mekelle University, Department of Food Sciences, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia 3 Wollega University, Nekemte, Oromia, Ethiopia Accepted 28 March, 2012 Spontaneously fermented buttermilk was studied in 140 dairy farms and 8 cooperatives in northern Ethiopia to understand processing practices, status of buttermilk processing during fasting and opportunities and constraints of buttermilk processing. Households and cooperatives were interviewed using pretested formal questionnaire and semi-structured questionnaire, respectively. Two spontaneously fermented buttermilk types, Sour Milk Buttermilk and Sour Cream Buttermilk were made by 96 % interviewed households and 8 cooperative units, respectively. Amount of milk processed increased with farm size and from non-fasting to fasting period. Ajibo was made by heating sour milk buttermilk (91% households), and soured skim milk (cooperative units). About 83% respondents practiced Hazo making by spicing buttermilk and fermenting. Increased demand, involvement of stakeholders and emergence of dairy cooperatives were identified as opportunities while poor hygienic conditions, housing problems and, unavailability of improved technology were reported as constraints for further development in buttermilk processing. It is concluded that considerable quantities of buttermilk and its products have been processed for household consumption and commercial purposes. There are opportunities for improved practices focusing on small processors, dominating the processing system and dairy cooperatives stimulating entry of dairy products into the market. Keywords: Milk processing, Buttermilk, Ajibo and HazoIntroduction INTRODUCTION Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa, approximately 45 million cattle and 48 million sheep and goats (FAOSTAT 2007). These large numbers of livestock provide food, income and employment and play an important role in the country’s economy and food security. As part of urban agriculture, dairy production supplies urban residents with milk and milk products. The urban and peri-urban milk production system comprises small, medium and large farms found in and around cities and towns where milk is in high demand (Tsehay, 1998). These farms are owned by different groups of the community including farmers, businessmen and government employees who are dependent on incomes from milk sale. About 10% of Ethiopia’s milk production is produced by urban and peri-urban dairy farms (CSA 2002). This quantity in *Corresponding Author E-mail: negussie@ymail.com; Tel: +4764965843 addition to the amount of milk delivered from the nearby rural areas constitutes the urban milk supply. The total annual milk production of the country amounted to about 1.48 million tons (FAOSTAT, 2007). One third of Ethiopia’s total milk production is used for butter making and buttermilk as a by product of this process (CSA, 2002). These figures indicate the importance of buttermilk processing in generating substantial income to both processors and the nation as a whole. Generally, there are two types of buttermilk products. Traditional buttermilk is made by churning spontaneously fermented sour milk or sour cream. Gonfa et al. (2001) described this type of buttermilk as traditionally sour and defatted milk. It has smoother appearance and thinner consistency than sour milk as well as shorter shelf life (24-48 hrs) compared with all of the other traditionally made products (Gonfa et al., 2001). In countries with a developed dairy industry, cultured buttermilk is prepared by adding commercial starter cultures comprising strains of lactic acid bacteria to