Compositional and microbiological quality of traditional fermented dried milk “Orud/Khurud”

The present study was carried out to analyze the compositional and microbiological quality of Orud/Khurud. A total of thirty locally produced Orud/Khurud samples (~1 kg each), ten samples from each of goat and sheep milk purchased from five districts (Chaghi, Chaman, Kharan, Mastung and Noshki) of Balochistan, were evaluated for moisture, fat, protein, casein, mineral/ash and total viable count (TVC), thermoduric count (TDC), thermophilic spore count (TPSC), Enterobacteraceae count (EBC) and yeasts and moulds count (YMC). Moisture (5.05±0.35%), protein (44.60±1.63%) and casein (37.46±1.19%) contents of sheep milk Orud/Khurud were not significantly different (p>0.05) from goat milk Orud/Khurud (5.47±0.31, 41.91±2.02 and 36.56±1.60%, respectively). While fat and mineral/ash contents of sheep milk Orud/Khurud (4.21±0.43%) and (14.34±0.63%) were remarkably different (P0.05) from goat milk Orud/Khurud ( 3.7×103±1.6×102 , 5.0×101 ±0.75×101, 5.1×101 ± 0.82× 101, 4.3×101 ±0.60×101 and 4.7×101 ±0.60×101 cfu g-1, respectively). The overall average concentration of TVC (3.9×103 ±1.8×102 cfu g-1) in Orud/Khurud was recovered lower (12.7 folds) compared to Pakistan Standard Institution (PSI) and/or Indian Standard Institution (ISI) (5.0×104 cfu/g) and the overall average count of TD, (4.9×101 ±0.50×101 cfu g-1), TPS (5.0×101 ±0.53×101 cfu g-1), EBC (4.2×101±0.43×101 cfu g-1) and YM (4.6×102±0.35×101) were also detected lower (-2.04 folds), (-2 folds), (-2.38 folds) and (-2.17 folds) compared to ISI standards, respectively. The results conclude that chemical components in both types of Orud/Khurud were dense with a higher amount and could be a rich source of human nutrition. Moreover, the results of the microbiological examination showed the quality of Orud/Khurud within the acceptable limit.