THE MICROFLORA OF RAW BULK TANK MILK

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Milk samples from 141 farms were plated on standard plate count agar and the colony count determined after incubation for 48 hours at 32 °C. Twenty colonies were picked at random from plates containing between 30 and 300 colonies. The isolates were inoculated into litmus milk and subsequently characterized on the basis of shape, Gram-staining reaction, catalase production, lactose fermentation, and the ability to form spores.Certain general trends in the flora were observed. In milk of a colony count less than 2 × 104 per ml, micrococci were the dominant group of organisms, and as the colony count of the milk increased the percentage of micrococci decreased and the percentage of Gram-negative rods and streptococci usually increased. In spite of these general trends a study of the flora of individual samples showed that quite marked variations did occur.