Qualitative characteristics of sheep’s and goat’s milk in Albania

Cost-effective methods are crucial in small-scale operations to assess the physicochemical properties of milk, identify potential clinical or subclinical mastitis, and test β-lactams in small ruminants. The aim was to evaluate the importance of physicochemical characteristics, somatic cells, and antibacterial substances as factors for monitoring the quality and safety of bulk tank milk from sheep and goats. Furthermore, we aimed to elucidate the influence of grazing capacity on the composition of sheep milk. The fat content of sheep milk (n=119) was found to be 7.7%, with a range of 5.3% to 9.9%. The average fat content of dairy goats (n=33) was found to be 4.9%, with a range of 2.8-6.7%. The results indicate that 2.8% of sheep milk samples and 7.8% of goat milk samples exhibited clear positive reactions when assessed using the California mastitis test. β-lactam antibiotics were present in 0.7% of sheep milk samples, but not in any of the goat milk samples using lateral flow strips. This measurement method can be useful to detect adulterated milk and better understand the quality and safety of small ruminant milk before processing.