Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2018) 7(3): 3237-3242 3237 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.703.374 Microbial Profile and Antimicrobial Effect of Donkey Milk against Staphylococcus aureus K.M. Chandrashekar 1* , R. Sharada 1 and S. Isloor 2 1 Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Veterinary College, Hassan – 573 202, KVAFSU, Karnataka, India 2 Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Veterinary College, Bangalore – 560 024, KVAFSU, Karnataka, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction In India, donkey milk (DM) is gaining lot of attention for human (children) consumption in view of its medicinal and therapeutic values with special reference to its antimicrobial property. Since ages, donkey milk has been known for its significant medicinal and therapeutic properties (Zhang et al., 2008, Vincenzetti et al., 2008). Some of these properties of DM are in prevention of atherosclerosis (Tafaro et al., 2007), antibacterial (Saric et al., 2012; Tidona et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2008) antiviral (Brumini et al., 2013), antiproliferative and anti-tumor effects (Mao et al., 2009) but majority of its application is by considering it as a alternative to cow/mother milk for children affected with milk allergy. The DM is having higher tolerability, palatability, nutritional adequacy (Iacono et al., 1992; Mansueto et al., 2013; Monti et al., 2007, 2012) Low fat and casein International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 03 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com In India, there is a growing interest in donkey milk mainly because of its antimicrobial properties. The aim of this study was to know the microbial profile and to investigate antibacterial effect of raw donkey milk against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Average values of fat, SNF, cholesterol, proteins, lactose, salt, temperature and pH were 0.67, 8.05, 30.4, 2.95, 4.43, 0.66, 30.83 o C and 7.08 respectively. The total viable count in the neat donkey milk samples varied from 220 to 2080 cfu/ml (918 or 2.96 log cfu/ml on average). All samples were negative for moulds/yeast and also for pathogenic bacteria like S. aureus, Salmonella spp., E. coli, Bacillus cereus and Streptococcus spp. In two samples, the bacterial count reduced below the detection limit of <1 log cfu/ml after 5hr of incubation which indicates the antimicrobial effects of donkey milk. In disc diffusion test a clear zone of inhibition was noticed. Keywords Donkey milk, Microbial profile, Antimicrobial effect, Lysozyme Accepted: 26 February 2018 Available Online: 10 March 2018 Article Info