Physicochemical and Bacteriological Changes in Marketed Raw Milk during Its Transportation to Consumers B. Manzoor 1, M.Tarique Tunio 2 , Y. Shuming 2 , Z. Mohsina 2 , J.Qiu 2 , A.Chen 2 and G. Chen 2 1. Department of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Science, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, Pakistan 2. Institute of Quality Standard and Testing Technology for Agro Products, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing, China Corresponding author email’s tarique_tunio@hotmail.com Rec.Date: Oct 05, 2012 09:05 Accept Date: Dec 18, 2012 03:12 Abstract Milk is a nutritious food but at the same time is an excellent medium for the growth of micro-organisms. Nearly all the changes in taste, flavour or appearance of raw milk are result of bacterial activities. The activities of these bacteria if pathogenic may cause certain health problems. In this study sixty milk samples collected each from three different consumers and producing areas of Abbottabad city, were analyzed for physico-chemical properties and microbial analysis. The mean scores of colour, taste and flavour for marketed raw milk and fresh milk were 7.03, 5.86, 5.71 and 7.06, 7.15, 6.75, respectively. 30% of the samples of marketed raw milk gave positive response to alcohol precipitation test and all samples of fresh milk gave negative response to alcohol precipitation test. The mean value of specific gravity for marketed raw milk and fresh milk was 1.023 and 1.033 respectively. The mean value of pH for marketed raw milk was 6.53 and 6.71 for fresh milk. Fat percentage results showed that all marketed raw milk samples analyzed were below the required standards for buffalo milk. Total bacterial count revealed mean of 7.29 x 10 10 /ml for marketed raw milk and 5.53 x 10 8 /ml for fresh milk. However all the samples contained total count above the standard i.e., 2 x 10 5 to 5 x 10 6 /ml and all the samples were of very poor quality and placed in grade D. The present study indicated that qualitative and quantitative changes during transportation of milk to consumers were due substandard production of fresh milk and probably due to adulteration. Keywords: Physico chemical, raw milk, bacteriological changes , transportaion Introduction Milk is a major part of food consumption and plays a prominent role in the Pakistani diet. As a food group, all milk (both milk and milk equivalents) is second only to cereals in level of per capita consumption. By weight, all milk makes up nearly one third of all food consumed. The milk is consumed as fresh, boiled, powdered and processed milk, and as yogurt, ghee, lassi, butter, cheese, ice cream, sweetmeats, and in other confectioneries. About half of the total milk produced is consumed as fresh or boiled milk; about one fourth as ghee; and one sixth as yogurt or curd 1 . Milk is a nutritious food but at the same time it is an excellent medium for the growth of micro-organisms. The perishable nature of milk demands special care during handling processing, storage and distribution to the market. Milk is vulnerable to different environmental factors at various stages which can badly influence its keeping as well as the nutritional values. Nearly all the changes in flavor or appearance of raw milk are Manzoor et al., IJAVMS, Vol. 6, Issue 6, 2012: 480-486 DOI: 10.5455/ijavms.26801 RESEARCH ARTICLE