Description

Milk is the basis for a variety of different dairy products including cheese, yogurt, kefir and ice milk. The scientific name for a dairy cow is Bos taurus. Cow milk and its products are basic foodstuffs and constitute an important source of nutrient in the daily diet of humans. The content of protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals determine biological and technological properties of milk. The practice of drinking cow's milk is ancient, thought to date back as early as 6,000 - 8,000 B.C. Dairy cows did not make an appearance in America until the early 17th century, when they were brought over from Europe. Milk pasteurization began in the very late 19th century, although it wasn't until the mid-20th century that a more refined technique, ultra-high temperature pasteurization, was introduced. Buffalo is the major source of milk production, contributing 12.1% in world, 38.0% in Asia, 55.0% in India. As milk is having various nutritional values, the present study was carried out at Department of Biotechnology, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, Gujarat in 2009 and samples for this study have been provided by the Cattle Breeding Farm of the same University.