Goat Milk and Dairy Products

Fresh goat milk obtained from healthy and well-fed animals by adopting clean milk production practices at the farm level will definitely command a premium price than cow milk. It is indeed heartening to note that pasteurized goat milk sachets and bottles are decorating the shelves of super markets and health food stores in many of the European and American States. The following are the common milk products prepared from goat milk.

Fermented Goat Milk

The popular goat milk product prepared from goat milk is fermented goat milk. A special fermented beverage prepared from goat milk by standardizing it to 2% fat and 10.5% SNF using concentrated goat skim milk is very popular in the EU and US. It is usually fortified with Vitamin A and Vitamin D and labeled as protein fortified low fat goat milk.

Goat Milk Ice cream

Goat milk can be successfully used in the preparation of ice cream. Since the goat milk is sold at a higher price than that of cow milk, the ice cream prepared using goat milk is considered as premium one.

Infant foods and Milk substitutes

The infant foods and milk substitutes prepared by using goat milk is very popular in United States and South Africa. It is available in the form of spray dried and evaporated form especially targeted at infants.

Goat Milk Yoghurt

Goat milk can also be utilized for producing yoghurt by employing 2% yoghurt culture which developed good aroma and relatively whiter appearance with moderately firm body, smooth texture and no goaty odour. The goats grazing on pastures yield milk which contains certain factors that increase the viscosity of yoghurt.

There is no significant effect on pH, total solid, lactic acid, volatile fatty acids and tyrosine value when the goat milk is ultrafiltered prior to its use. Moreover, ultrafiltered goat milk had better quality due to high protein content in comparison to those obtained from goat milk concentrated by reverse osmosis or vacuum evaporation. Another advantage is that there is no wheying off defect when stored at 4°C as in the case of cow milk yoghurt without homogenization.

Goat Milk Cheese

Goat milk is highly suitable for the production of different varieties of soft cheeses that are popular in Europe, France, USA, Spain, Yugoslavia, Italy etc. The goat milk can be admixed with buffalo milk for the manufacture of Mozzarella cheese. The cheese made from goat milk had higher retention of moisture and lower sodium content, higher fat and dry matter content and the organoleptic quality is definitely superior when compared with cow milk cheese.

In Italy, cheese made from goat milk are either consumed fresh or ripened for 2 months. For ripening the cheese, white or blue moulds are used in order to produce a strong flavour and proper rind formation. The cheese made from goat milk is known for the desirable sharp flavour due to the presence of higher concentration of medium chain fatty acids. In many states of European Union, the goat milk cheese is marketed as premium quality.

Trials have been carried out by mixing 10-25% of goat milk in buffalo milk to produce cheddar cheese, which developed sharp and balanced flavour within 6 months of ripening. At 15% replacement in buffalo milk, the Gouda cheese developed pronounced flavour. Mozzarella cheese can also be prepared with a blend of goat and buffalo milk at 50:50 level. Thus goat milk can be used to prepare various goat milk products. Domiati cheese made from fresh goat milk and ripened for 90 days exhibited that the rennet type had little effect on the yield, acidity, moisture content, fat, salt, ratio between soluble nitrogen to total nitrogen, total volatile fatty acids and non protein nitrogen of cheese.