Food Research Institute

Klimešová, M. – Hanuš, O. – Tomáška, M. – Hofericová, M. – Vorlová, L. – Chládek, G. – Jedelská, R. – Nejeschlebová, L. – Vondrušková, E.
Correlation between total bacterial and somatic cell counts in bulk tank ewes’ milk
Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 56, 2017, No. 4, s. 341–350

Martin Tomáška, Testing Laboratory Examinala, Dairy Research Institute, JV, Dlhá 95, 010 01 Žilina, Slovakia. E-mail: tomaska@vumza.sk

Received 29 March2017; 1st revised 25 May 2017; 2nd revised 21 September 2017; accepted 22 September 2017; published online 4 December 2017

Summary: Total counts of microorganisms (TCM) and somatic cell counts (SCC) were determined in raw ewes’ milk samples (n = 1256). Statistical parameters, namely, median, arithmetic mean, geometric mean, mean of logarithmic values to base 10, standard deviation, Spearman correlation coefficient (SP) and Pearson correlation coefficient (PE) were calculated. Geometric mean and median for TCM were 205 × 10³ CFU·ml^-1 and 154 × 10³ CFU·ml^-1, for SCC were 967 × 10³ ml^-1 and 987 × 10³ ml^-1, respectively. Tightness of relationship between TCM and SCC was similar according to correlation transformed values (mean of logarithmic values to base 10 and PE) and to SP, and varied through lactation. This variation range was from 0.06 to 0.26 (p < 0.001) for PE and from 0.05 to 0.33 (p < 0.001) for SP. The explanation of variability in SCC values by variations in TCM values could be up to 20.3 % as maximum on the PE basis. Development curves of relations between TCM and SCC in bulk ewes’ milk along months of lactation (PE: y = 0.0031x⁴ – 0.1037x³ + 1.2181x² – 6.0068x + 10.640; SP: y = 0.0054x⁴ – 0.1623x³ + 1.7685x² – 8.2647x + 14.065) may be associated with the dynamics of lactation and secretion disorders.

Keywords: ewes’ milk; bulk; somatic cell; bacterial count; correlation coefficient

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