Evaluation of the Somatic Cells Count and Total Bacterial Count of Mangalarga Marchador Mares’ Milk

Abstract

This study was proposed with the aim of evaluating the quality of the mare’s milk, by means of somatic cells and total bacterial count from healthy mammary glands of Mangalarga Marchador mares. Thirty one mares from four stables, located in Goiás State were used. The mares were in the 15^th and 120^th days post parturition. The samples were collected after the first streams were discarded and carry out the complete milking process. Two samples of 45 ml was separated into two plastic bottles, one preserved with bronophol and azidiol for analysis of somatic cell count (SCC) and the other with total bacterial count (TBC), respectively. The determination of the SCC and TBC was conducted by the flow citometry method. For statistical analysis, data were submitted to the analysis of variance test F and the results among stables were compared by the Duncan test. The SCC of average milk from the udders of healthy Mangalarga Marchador mares from the Goiás State is 1.64 x10⁴cells/mL and TBC average is 1.23 x 10⁴ CFU/mL, without significant difference among stables. The milk from animals in this study presented high microbiological quality shown by the low TBC.