Groups of lactating cows and heifers were milked four times daily in two diagonally opposed glands for 4 weeks, and the effects on milk yield studied relative to twice-daily milked glands as controls. Mammary enzyme activities, in vitro synthesis rates of milk constituents and histological scoring were determined in mammary biopsy samples obtained at the end of this period. These were used for assessment of mammary function. Frequent milking increased milk yield only in the treated glands, the contralateral control glands continuing to decline in yield at ~ 2%/week. There was no significant difference in response between cows and heifers; the mean increase in yield was 10·4%. The rate of decline in milk yield tended to decrease with frequent milking, to ~ 1%/week. Consequently the yield of the treated glands continued to be elevated above that of the controls for some time after reversion to overall twice daily milking. Milk protein content was increased slightly by frequent milking. Mammary enzyme activities were ~ 18% higher in the treated glands than in the controls. Synthesis rates of lactose, casein and total protein were unaffected by milking frequency, but were all lower in the gland selected for the second biopsy, reflecting the reduction in milk yield caused by the first biopsy. DNA synthesis was increased by milking frequency, as were the size and number of epithelial cells in histological sections.

Two experiments were carried out to determine the effect on milk yield, milk composition and composition and physical properties of milk fat of giving full fat soyabeans (FFS) and full fat rapeseeds (FFR) to dairy cows. In both experiments grass silage was provided ad lib. and constituted over 50% of the dry matter (DM) intake of the cows. In experiment 1, cows received 7·25 kg/d of a concentrate mixture containing 240 g/kg of extruded FFS or 7·25 kg/d of a mixture without soyabeans. Cow performance was not significantly affected by the inclusion of FFS but fatty acid composition of the milk fat was greatly altered. The contents of C8:0 to C16:0 were significantly reduced (P < 0·001) while the contents of C18:0, C18:l and C18:2 were significantly increased (P < 0·001). Milk fat produced during feeding on FFS concentrate had a significantly lower content of solid fat at temperatures between 0 and 25 °C compared with milk fat produced when FFS was not given. In experiment 2, cows received concentrate mixtures containing either no whole rapeseed, 150 g/kg of whole unground FFR or 150 g/kg of ground FFR. Milk yield was significantly higher and silage DM intake significantly lower with the ground FFR concentrate compared with the other two diets but milk composition was not significantly different among treatments. FFR inclusion, either ground or unground, reduced diet digestibility. Changes in fatty acid composition of the milk fat were similar to those observed with FFS inclusion but the effect was larger with ground FFR compared with unground FFR. Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis showed a lower solid fat content when the FFR diets were employed with the effect being greatest with ground FFR.

The effect of teat washing and drying on bacterial numbers in bulk milk was compared with that of no teat preparation in eight commercial herds over one year. Using in-line milk samplers, milk was collected at various points during its passage through the milking plant and the samples were used to establish the relative significance of the sources of contamination of raw milk. Teat washing and drying of cows housed during winter reduced the total counts by 40% and streptococcal and coliform counts by 50%. Bacterial counts were significantly lower in cows at pasture during the summer and there was no reduction in count due to teat washing and drying. Bacteriological counts increased at each stage as the milk passed through the milking machine. The milking equipment significantly increased the total colony count by between 2000 and 3000/ml, and the bulk tank added a further 1500 to 2000/ml. The mean rinse bacterial counts of the milking equipment were higher in summer than winter, averaging 4·4 x 107 bacteria/m2 compared with 3·5 x 107/m2 respectively. Although this level of bacterial contamination of the equipment is high by current standards, very low bulk milk bacterial counts were nevertheless achieved, particularly in the summer. This confirms that organisms from this source are not a major contaminant of the bulk milk. There was a very poor correlation between rinse counts and the bulk milk bacterial count, but a strong correlation (0·98) between total and streptococcal counts of the bulk milk. The unreliability of the use of rinse techniques to assess the contribution of milking equipment to bacterial counts of raw milk is emphasized.

A method for assessing the loss in quarter milk yield due to subclinical mastitis is proposed. It is based upon two indices calculated from quarter milk yields and results from the assessment of mastitis obtained by measurement of the electrical conductivity of milk. The results were obtained from the cows through repeated quarter-milkings during several months of lactation. The grade of abnormality of a quarter with subclinical mastitis was expressed by the first index, the mean quarter difference of electrical conductivity of milk produced by the quarter (mQdEC, 25 °C). The reduction in milk yield of a quarter presumed to be due to subclinical mastitis was expressed by another index, the quarter yield ratio, R, which is that percentage of normal milk yield produced by a quarter with mastitis. Examination of the relationship between these two indices showed that subclinical mastitis caused a reduction in milk yield in the affected quarters. From the linear regression, it was found that ~3% reduction in quarter milk yield occurred for every 1 x 10–4 S/cm increase in the mQdEC of the quarter with presumed subclinical mastitis.

A definition is proposed for the interquarter ratio of markers of inflammation in the bovine mammary gland which in contrast to present measurement procedures has well-defined distributional properties and thus facilitates statistical analysis. Our proposal of an interquarter ratio is equally applicable to evaluation of both single and multi-sample experiments. Finally, we define a new index for diagnosis of subclinical mastitis at the cow level, the interquarter variation, which assesses the degree of dispersion of the four quarter levels for values of any continuous inflammatory marker.

Changes in the concentrations of glucose and galactose were measured in the peripheral blood of ten piglets after they had ingested milk during a natural sucking. In addition, the mild stress associated with the experimental procedure was determined by sampling nine fasted piglets over a period of 9 to 12 min. During this period there was a significant increase in the concentration of glucose in the blood of the piglets but no change in the concentration of galactose. After milk ingestion during a natural sucking the concentrations of both glucose and galactose increased from 5·7 mM and 19 μM to reach peak values of 7·7 mM and 122 μM, respectively, by 30 to 35 min. The concentrations of glucose and galactose returned to initial values in 60–80 min and 80–100 min, respectively, after sucking. Since the change in the concentration of galactose in the peripheral blood was much lower than the change in the concentration of glucose, we conclude that galactose was rapidly removed by the livers of sucking piglets. However, after the ingestion of milk the percentage increase (from initial to peak values) in the concentration of galactose in the blood was much larger (650%) than the increase in the concentration of glucose (43%). Thus, we propose that the determination of galactose in the peripheral blood may provide a qualitative method for monitoring the digestion and absorption of milk lactose in sucking piglets.

Formation and adhesion of fouling deposit during heating of milk at a stainless steel surface were studied separately using a model apparatus. The amount of deposit and proportion of minerals present increased with increase in surface temperature. At 140 °C, the amount of deposit formed increased linearly with heating time, becoming more uneven in appearance. The variations of deposit formation at 140 °C with pH of the milk, with fat removal and with preheating were similar to those observed in the final heating section of continuous UHT plants. Deposits containing a higher proportion of protein were easier to remove. The remaining inner layer had a smoother appearance and contained a higher proportion of minerals than the original deposit. Depth profiling, using secondary ion mass spectrometry, showed that protein was concentrated on the outside of deposits with calcium phosphate being concentrated closest to the steel surface.

In order to examine the effect of heating on the changes in the linkage between colloidal Ca phosphate (CCP) and casein, high-performance gel chromatography of casein micelles disaggregated by 6 M-urea was carried out using 6 M-urea simulated milk ultrafiltrate as the effluent. Although the CCP content increased when whey protein-free (WPF) milk was heated at 60–90 °C for 10 min, almost no changes in the content of casein aggregates cross-linked by CCP were observed. The content of casein aggregates cross-linked by CCP decreased from 51·9 to 46·1% in WPF milk and from 52·3 to 43·6% in concentrated WPF milk on heating at 135–140 °C for 75 s, indicating the cleavage of the linkage between CCP and casein. The cleavage of the linkage between CCP and casein on heating was considered to occur without liberation of ester phosphate groups. It was suggested that the transformation of CCP to another form was responsible for the cleavage between CCP and casein on heating milk at high temperature

Casein micelle suspensions, colloidal Ca phosphate-free casein solution and simulated milk ultrafiltrate (SMUF) were studied using high-resolution 43Ca and 31P NMR in the temperature range 4–64 °C. Only one 43Ca and one 31P signal was obtained for each solution. Signal intensities and line widths varied with the environment and were affected by the redistribution of Ca and P during heating and cooling. Based upon the temperature-dependent broadening of the 43Ca signal, five different Ca environments were discerned in the heated milk fractions. The Ca state, induced by heating of a casein-containing milk salt solution, differed from both the state of Ca present in micellar colloidal Ca phosphate and from the state of Ca induced by the heating of SMUF.

The acidic coagulation of casein micelles was monitored turbidimetrically at 400 nm using a Cary 219 spectrophotometer. Following acidification with HCI, the rate of coagulation during the initial stage of coagulation was proportional to the rate during the immediate subsequent stages, indicating that progressive stages of coagulation were controlled by similar factors and the slope at any portion of the reaction profile could be used to characterize the kinetics of the coagulation reaction. The rate of coagulation following acidification by glucono-δ-lactone was proportional to the reciprocal of the rate of acidification. The effects of environmental factors on the rate of the acidic coagulation of casein micelles over a range of pH values were evaluated from the smooth, hyperbolic profiles of pH v. coagulation rate. Determination of the pH required to initiate coagulation of casein micelles in skim milk ultrafiltrate at 5–25 °C, together with the maximum rates of coagulation at 5–25 °C, suggested that repulsive forces are reduced by acidification and con-sequently facilitate hydrophobic interactions resulting in the coagulation of casein micelles.

Both whey protein isolate (WPI) and Na caseinate gave similar emulsion capacity-concentration profiles at pH 7. The emulsion capacity of aqueous solutions of WPI was relatively independent of pH while the values for caseinate fell in the isoelectric region. Saline (7·59 g/1) compared with aqueous solutions improved emulsion capacity, particularly above pH 7. At low concentration, WPI had greater emulsifying capacity and gave finer globule dispersion than sodium caseinate. Increase in emulsifier concentration, within a certain range, increased stability, improved dispersion and reduced capacity. Ethanol up to about 20% w/w improved the emulsion capacity of both proteins while at 50% the phases separated. Heat treatment (> 65 °C) of WPI solution before emulsion formation impaired capacity and stability. Heat treatment of preformed WPI emulsions did not have the same effect. Na caseinate and WPI each formed a thin continuous layer of relatively uniform thickness over the oil globule surfaces while denatured WPI appeared aggregated and relatively unevenly distributed at the oil-aqueous interface.

Photoacoustic signals in the near infrared region (~ 2·75 μm) have been investigated using amplitude and phase information to determine their effectiveness in estimating the water content of milk. The results obtained showed a good correlation between the photoacoustic signal and water concentration (R2 = 0·98) even though photoacoustic saturation was present in the range of wavelengths studied. However, this is not recommended as a fast technique for water determination because of inherent phase fluctuations in the samples analysed.

The effect of threonine on the biochemical activity of yogurt starter was investigated by the addition of L-threonine to cows' and goats' milk in two concentrations (5 and 10mg/100g). A separate experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of free glycine on the formation of acetaldehyde from yogurt starter. Increasing amounts of glycine (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 mg/100 g) were added to samples of cows' milk. Addition of threonine to milk samples did not influence acid production, total bacterial growth, or the balance between cocci and rods in the yogurts. Raised levels of threonine resulted in increased production of acetaldehyde. This increase was more pronounced in goats' milk than in cows' milk. The production of acetaldehyde in cows' milk without added threonine was significantly greater than in goats' milk without addition of threonine. Addition of threonine did not influence the formation of diacetyl and α-acetolactic acid, whereas production of acetoin in both milks was reduced. No marked difference in the formation of C02 was observed in samples with or without addition of threonine. Addition of free glycine to cows' milk had a marked negative effect on the production of acetaldehyde by yogurt starter. Addition of 3 mg glycine/100 g cows' milk gave approximately the same amount of acetaldehyde as obtained in goats' milk yogurt. It is suggested that the relatively low amount of acetaldehyde usually observed in goats' milk yogurt is caused by a feed-back inhibition of threonine aldolase produced by the relatively high amount of free glycine present in goats' milk.

Levels of plasmin activity in various commercial cheeses are reported. The effects of some processing conditions (pH, cooking temperature and method of salting) on plasmin activity in cheese were investigated. Neither draining pH nor method of salting affected the activity. However, plasmin activity in cheese, rennet curd and micellar casein dispersions increased with increasing cooking temperature. The results suggest that plasmin activity in cheese depends on cooking temperature used during manufacture.

Oestrone sulphate is quantitatively a major oestrogen in pregnant goats rising gradually in concentration in milk and plasma as placental function develops (Heap et al. 1984). We report here that its concentration in mammary secretions increases sharply at the time of parturition. The results support the idea that oestrone sulphate in mammary secretions could be used as a predictor of the onset of parturition in dairy animals.