MICROBIAL QUALITY OF MILK AVAILABLE IN KATHMANDU VALLEY

Abstract

With an objective to find microbial quality of the market milk available in Kathmandu valley, this studywas conducted in the Microbiology Laboratory, Himalayan College of Agriculture Science and Technology(HICAST). Different milk brands were collected from different outlets in the valley and analyzed formicrobial quality. The samples were cultured using the standard microbiological techniques. Almost all thesamples showed the presence of bacterial growth including coliform bacteria. The bacterial isolates were of7 different genera. E. coli was the most frequently isolated organism (92%) followed by coagulase negativeStaphylococci (CONS) (24%). Other organisms isolated were Bacillus species, Staphylococcus aureus,Streptococcus species, Salmonella species, Shigella species. The culture results were similar to directmicroscopic count results and showed that bacterial contamination in some of the samples was too numerousto be counted. Thus, it was concluded that the market milk available in Kathmandu is contaminated withvarious types of microorganisms and does not meet the required standard. The dairy industries shouldwork seriously to maintain the standards of their products.* Integrated Bioscientific Research Group (BIOINT), Kupondol, Lalitpur, Nepal.** Himalayan College of Agriculture Science and Technology (HICAST), Gatthaghar, Bhaktapur, Nepal.Address for correspondence : Charu ArjyalIntegrated Bioscientific Research Group (BIOINT), Kupondol, Lalitpur, Nepal.Email: charuarjyal@hotmail.comKey Words: Microbiology, Contamination, Milk, Quality, Coliform.