Milk is one of the results of livestock other than meat and eggs. Milk is a food composed by nutrients with balanced proportions. Milk is seen as a source of raw materials that contain important nutrients. Its main constituent is water, protein, fat, minerals and vitamins. Quality or milk is an important part in the production and trade of milk. Degrees of milk quality can only be maintained for a certain time, which in turn would decrease and end with the destruction of milk.
Quality of Fresh Milk
Quality fresh milk is a correlation properties of fresh milk which reflects the level of the milk acceptance by consumers. The properties include physical, chemical, and microbiological. In testing, the properties of such a quality parameter. The physical properties of the milk indicates the physical state of milk that can be tested with particular equipment or the five senses. The physical properties of milk can be tested by means of, among others, specific gravity, viscosity.
While the properties that can be tested with the five senses are smell, taste, color and consistency. The chemistry of milk showed a nutrient composition and content of certain chemical substances including their contamination. Microbiological properties of the milk indicates the number of microbes in the milk as well as several other parameters related to microbial growth. According to the National Standardization Body in the Indonesian National Standard (SNI 3141.1: 2011) good quality fresh milk must meet several requirements as listed in Table 19 below:
Table 19. Terms of fresh milk quality (ISO 3141.1: 2011)
In practice, the quality of the milk is frequently mentioned by groups known in nature so that the physical quality of the milk, the milk quality chemical, or microbiological quality of the milk. Even in milk quality testing is often conducted only on a few attributes that are considered important, such as specific gravity, the fat content and total bacteria. But the overall quality of milk should describe the properties of the milk which include physical, chemical and microbiological. The combined results of assessment of those properties will reflect the value of milk or milk quality degrees.