Evaluation of the Physicochemical Properties of Different Imported Milk Brands Offered in Afghanistan Markets

Abstract

Abstract Milk is an enriched food that is widely consumed by humans. It is the source of many nutrients like protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and some gases. The content of high-quality milk should match that of natural standards. In the current study, we evaluated the quality of imported milk brands (Everyday®, Chaika®, Qudrat®, Milk Pak®, and Pegah®) and local cow milks in the markets of Kabul, Afghanistan. For this purpose, we measured the levels of protein, fat, total solids, solids not fat, acidity, pH, and specific gravity of five imported milk brands and local cow milks. Our findings show that the level of protein in imported brands was significantly lower than the standard of cow milk (p < 0.01). Among imported brands the level of protein in Pegah® and Milk Pak® was higher than other brands and standard (p < 0.05). The level of fat in Chaika® and Qudrat® was higher than standard and other brands (p < 0.05), the level of total solid in Pegah® was lower than standard (p < 0.05) and the level of solid not fat in Chaika® and Qudrat® was lower than standard (p < 0.05). Our results show that local cow milk has a higher quality than imported milk brands, and among milk brands, Milk Pak® has a higher quality than other brands, almost the same as the composition of local cow milk when compared with the standard of cow milk.