The velocity of milk flow from the teat during the peak flow rate period of milking was estimated to be ∼ 8·5 m/s with a liner vacuum of 50 kPa and 7·5 m/s at 40 kPa. These results confirm the applicability of the Bernoulli theorem for estimating velocity of milk flow through the teat canal during milking. Concurrent measurements of mass flow rate and velocity indicate that the effective diameter of the open teat canal is ∼ 2 mm. Further calculations indicate that the shear force due to milk flow acting to debride the surface of the open teat canal is about 1·8 × 10-2 N. The opposing surfaces of the ‘closed’ teat canal may be ∼ 100 µm apart immediately after milking. If so, bacteria present in the milk residue within the teat canal would never be more than 50 µm from a surface.

Mature lactating Friesland ewes had a mean lactation yield of 293 ± 26 kg during a lactation period of 35 ± 2 weeks giving an average daily milk yield of 1·2 kg/d. Ewes were injected intravenously after normal milking with either saline (sham) or oxytocin and then remilked to determine the volume of residual (alveolar) milk. After a long milking interval of 16 h oxytocin treatment gave a significantly greater total daily milk yield than the sham treatment (oxytocin minus saline, morning milking, 0·199±0·038 kg, mean ±s.e.m., P < 0·01). Oxytocin had a small significant reverse effect after a short milking interval of 8 h (afternoon milking, –0·065±0·022 kg, P <0·05). The average increase in total daily yield over four stages of lactation was 0·133±0·029 kg (P < 0·01), or 11% of the average daily milk yield. The galactopoietic effect of oxytocin was associated with the efficient removal of residual (alveolar) milk. Residual milk accounted for 7·4 and 27·2% of the total daily milk yield in ewes treated with saline or oxytocin respectively. Residual milk expressed as a proportion of daily total milk yield remained steady in ewes studied between April and July, but declined in September when yields were less than 1 kg/d.

Bacterial growth was measured by a turbidimetric microtechnique in the whey of milk samples from quarters of cows with subclinical mastitis. Samples were grouped according to bacterial isolates recovered and the effects of bacterial species and whey on bacterial growth rates were analysed. Different strains of bacteria and different whey samples gave highly significant differences in bacterial replication rates. Except for penicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, bacteria grew better in whey from mastitic milk where the inflammation was caused by the same bacterial species than in other mastitic milk samples. Inflammation caused by major pathogens generally enhanced the growth in whey of any type of major pathogen. Since mastitis pathogens showed enhanced growth in whey prepared from the same milk from which they were isolated, specific antibacterial factors in the whey did not appear to restrict bacterial growth in whey. The nutritional quality of the medium seems to be the important determinant of bacterial growth.

The effect of aeration and agitation during milking on free fatty acid (FFA) levels in raw milk was investigated by comparing (a) a dual vacuum system with a ‘round the barn’ installation and (b) a claw piece requiring high air bleed with conventional claw pieces. Reduced milk transfer pressure resulted in a reduction in lipolysis of 54%, while high air bleed led to a 21% increase. FFA values were related to milk yield, stage of lactation and to a lesser extent the incidence of mastitis. These relationships were largely independent of the type of milking equipment. Fat content and somatic cell count did not affect the level of lipolysis. Increases in FFA due to activation by added blood serum were strongly related to the initial FFA concentrations.

The chemical composition of Norwegian bulk collected goats' milk from the University herd was analysed during one lactation period (30 weeks, 20 samples during 1983). There was considerable variation in chemical composition during the year. Fat content decreased over the first 4 months of lactation and increased during the mountain pasture period. Protein concentration decreased during the first 4 months, and then increased until the end of lactation. Lactose concentration decreased throughout lactation. Casein nitrogen (casein N) was highest at mid lactation and lowest at the beginning and end of lactation. β-Lactoglobulin N showed the opposite trend. Citrate content showed a significantly quadratic decrease and total ash content an increase with advancing lactation. Mutual significant correlations between total P, K, Na, Ca and Mg were calculated, and all increased throughout lactation. There was significant positive correlation between concentrations of individual medium-chain fatty acids and stage of lactation. They remained more or less constant during the first part of the lactation, decreased to minima when the goats were on pasture, and increased during the last phase of lactation. Concentration of C16 fatty acid was negatively correlated with C18 and C18:1. Goat flavour intensity score and quality flavour score were highest at mid lactation, and positively correlated with the acid degree value.

Seasonal variations were observed in the proportion of long-chain (C18 and over) and medium-chain (C6–14) fatty acids (FA) in milk fat. Long-chain FA were proportionately higher during the period June to October. Changes were also observed in the concentrations of citrate, isocitrate and 2-oxoglutarate in milk. Changes in [isocitrate]: [2-oxoglutarate] correlated positively with changes in the proportion of long-chain FA in milk fat and negatively with the proportion of medium-chain FA.

Purified bovine β-casein was digested in vitro with varying mixtures of purified proteinases and peptidases including trypsin, chymotrypsin, dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DP IV), aminopeptidase M and prolidase. In digestion mixtures without DP IV the yield of free amino acids was considerably lower than in the corresponding assays with this peptidase. Especially, the release of proline increases drastically from almost zero to the theoretical amount in the presence of DP IV. Quantitative results indicated that the specificities of the two microvillar peptidases (aminopeptidase M and DP IV) optimally complemented each other. This effect elucidates the hitherto obscure physiological role of intestinal DP IV. A similar effect may also apply to other caseins and nutritional proteins.

Whey protein complexed and became co-sedimentable with casein micelles after heating milk at ≥ 90°C for 10 min at pH ≤ 6·9 while at higher pH values (7·3) whey proteins and κ-casein-rich protein dissociated from the micelles on heating. κ-Casein-deficient micelles were more sensitive to heat, Ca2+ or ethanol than whey protein-coated or native micelles and were readily coagulable by rennet. Isolated κ-casein added to skim milk before preheating (90°C for 10 min) did not associate with the micelles at pH ≥ 6·9. Sodium dodecyl sulphate increased the level of both non-sedimentable N (NSN) and N-acetylneuraminic acid (NANA) and shifted the NSN-pH and NANA-pH curves to more acidic values while cetyltrimethylammonium bromide had the opposite effect. It is suggested that the pH-dependent dissociation in micellar κ-casein, which appears to be reversible, depends on the surface charge on the micelles; at a certain negative charge, disruption of hydrophobic and electrostatic forces could result in the dissociation of κ-casein from the casein micelles.

The irreversible heat denaturation of α-lactalbumin (α-la) in 0·1 M-phosphate, pH 7·0, at 100 °C was studied using polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis (PAGE). PAGE revealed two groups of bands, one moving faster than native α-la and one slower, in addition to some denatured protein which remained at the origin and some residual native α-la. The faster group had unchanged molecular weight, but an increase in charge, partly due to hydrolysis of glutamine and asparagine residues. The slower group was shown by two-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulphate-PAGE to be oligomers of denatured α-la; formation of the smaller oligomers preceded the larger ones. The oligomers reverted to monomers in the presence of dithiothreitol, showing that they were disulphide-linked aggregates of denatured α-la. Immuno-blots of the gels showed that both fast and slow groups of bands had irreversibly lost most of the antigenicity of the native protein.

The effect of heating on plasmin activity in various media, including phosphate buffer pH 7·0, skim milk, blood plasma, solutions of casein and solutions of whey proteins were investigated. Plots of log residual activity υ. heating time were linear at all temperatures from 63 to 143 °C. In buffer solutions the presence of casein led to substantial substrate protection, the Arrhenius plots being linear both in the presence and absence of casein. The activation energy, Ea, for the inactivation reaction, was 62·4 kJ/mol in buffer alone and 58·4 kJ/mol with casein present at 25 mg/ml. In skim milk, despite the presence of casein at a similar concentration, plasmin was no more stable to heat than in buffer alone, and a curved Arrhenius plot was obtained indicating a more complex inactivation mechanism. Heating in the presence of proteins having free -SH groups accelerated the inactivation of plasmin. The role of -SH groups was confirmed by experiments with added α-lactalbumin, in which no free -SH groups occur, and reduced carboxymethylated β-lactoglobulin, both of which were without effect. In blood plasma, plasmin was less stable to heat than in buffer (pH 7·0) or in skim milk. Plasminogen behaved very similarly to plasmin either when activated to plasmin with urokinase before heating or when activated afterwards. A hypothesis is presented to describe the heat inactivation and denaturation of plasmin. Technologically important findings are that in skim milk plasmin was largely unaffected by pasteurization conditions and 30–40% of its activity remained even after ultra high temperature processing conditions.

Analysis of retentates of milk or whey, ultrafiltered and diafiltered by a pilot batch process with DDS Lab module equipment or (whey only) ultrafiltered by an industrial continuous process showed that nitrogen and ionic contents could not be described mathematically by the use of any value of the retention coefficient K. Analytical data suggested a new concept called segregation for nitrogen and ions in which each of these components consists of a completely permeable fraction and a totally retained fraction that do not exchange. A segregation coefficient Y is then defined as the ratio of the totally retained fraction to the total concentration of the species in the product fed to the equipment. However, this concept does not apply to lactose, where the classic retention concept (K) is retained. The two models are equivalent when K = Y = 0 or K = Y = 1. A first mathematical expression of this model was elaborated for batch ultrafiltration and/or constant volume diafiltration. Another set of equations was established for industrial conditions. These empirical models predict the retentate and permeate composition at any time during processing as well as after drying. The fit of analytical data with computed values was generally fair, with K being 0·1–0·4 in the pilot plant, and 0·1 in the factory. The nitrogen Y value was ∼ 0·95 for milk, and 0·85 for whey. In whey, the calcium Y value varied greatly from 0·06–0·71 depending on the pH, citrate content and heat treatment; in milk it was fairly constant at 0·5 at pH 6·7–5·8.

A novel method for measuring tensile strength of heat-setting gels is described and is applied to whey protein gels. Contributions made by β-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin individually to the tensile strength of the gel are calculated. The tensile strength can be found from power law equations related to concentration of α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin in whey protein mixtures.

A paper chromatography technique is described for the separation and quantification of minor sugars in infant formula milks. The precision and reliability of the technique are described. Infant milk feeds of various types were analysed and found to contain up to 11·4 mmol/l of the non-absorbed sugar lactulose. Soya derived feeds may contain a significant residue of non-absorbable oligosaccharides.

A method based on the hydrolysis of β-naphthyl caprylate (β-NC) has been developed for quantitating extracellular lipase from Pseudomonas fluorescens. The assay was extremely sensitive to skim milk (SM); as little as 0·02 ml raw SM in a 2·0 ml reaction mixture resulted in an apparent loss of 50% of the lipase activity. Activity improved 3-fold when trypsin (50 μg/ml) was included in the reaction mixture. When super-simplex optimization was used to determine the optimum levels of β-NC, Na taurocholate (NaTC), SM/lipase mixture and trypsin for maximum activity, NaTC was found to be unnecessary for activity. Subsequent addition of 15 mM-NaTC resulted in 80% loss of activity. On the other hand, NaTC was required for native lipase activity in the presence of SM. Native lipase was completely inhibited by heating at 70 °C for 2 min, while B52 lipase retained 75% of its activity under the same conditions. The assay was able to detect lipase produced by Ps. fluorescens B52 in SM at 5 °C when the cell density exceeded 108 colony forming units/ml. The presence of butterfat (3°5%) in the SM assay inhibited B52 lipase by 97%. The β-NC assay gave results comparable to the tributyrin agar diffusion assay using cell-free extracts of ten strains of common dairy psychrotrophs. The results suggest that the β-NC assay may be useful for determining lipase activity in raw SM.

Milk was heated at 97 °C/15 s to denature ∼ 30% of the whey protein and then used to make Cheshire cheese. Measurements of para-κ-casein production indicated that heating milk did not inhibit the enzymic action of rennet, but additional Ca and an initial pH of 6·4 were required for normal coagulation and curd-firming. In the experimental cheeses, about 4·5% more dry matter was recovered compared with controls made with pasteurized milk owing to a 6·7 and 0·7% increase in protein and fat recovery respectively. Experimental cheeses tended to be too moist and the curds did not fuse as well but these problems could be overcome by raising the scald temperature and cheddaring the curds. When the moisture in non-fat solids of control and experimental cheeses was similar (61%), the flavours and textures were not significantly different. The procedure requires little modification to existing commercial plant and should be suitable for varieties of cheese with higher moisture content and more crumbly texture than Cheddar.