Dairy Science and Technology

Dairy husbandry is one of the strategic sectors of agriculture that has a major impact on public health, the environment and economy. Dairy science and technology provides knowledge and expertise on the production of highly nutritious and safe milk and dairy products in a sustainable manner. Dairy Technology is a component of food technology and processing industry. Dairy Technology equips with techniques related to processing of various milk products. Students also get to know about quality control and learn to work with dairy processing equipment. Milk and dairy products contain many nutrients and provide a quick and easy way of supplying these nutrients to the diet within relatively few calories. Milk processors produce a wide range of milk products. Liquid milk is the most consumed, processed and marketed dairy product. Liquid milk includes products such as pasteurized milk, skimmed milk, standardized milk, reconstituted milk, ultra-high-temperature (UHT) milk and fortified milk. Worldwide, less and less liquid milk is consumed in its raw form. Fermented milks are commonly used to make other milk products. They are obtained from the fermentation of milk using suitable microorganisms to reach a desired level of acidity. Fermented products include yoghurt, koumiss, dahi, labneh, ergo, tarag, kurut and kefir. Cheeses are produced through the coagulation of milk protein (casein), which is separated from the milk's whey. Hundreds of varieties of cheese are produced, many of them being characteristic to a particular region of the globe. However, most cheese is produced in developed countries. Cheese can be soft, hard, semi-hard, hard ripened or unripened. Cheese's diverse characteristics derive from differences in the compositions and types of milk, processes applied and microorganisms used. Traditional cheeses produced in developing countries include ayib, gibna bayda, chanco, queso fresco, akawieh and chhurpi. Butter is produced by churning milk or cream; in many developing countries, traditional butter is obtained by churning sour whole milk. Ghee is obtained by removing the water from butter and is especially popular in South Asia. Ghee has a very long shelf-life of up to two years.

Condensed milk is obtained from the partial removal of water from whole or skimmed milk. Processing includes heat-treating and concentration. Condensed milk can be sweetened or unsweetened, but most is sweetened. In Latin America, for example, condensed milk is often used in cooking and baking instead of jam. Evaporated milks result from the partial removal of water from whole or skimmed milk. Processing includes heat-treating to make the milk bacteriologically safe and stable. Evaporated milks are generally mixed with other foods, such as in milky tea. Dry milk or milk powder is obtained from the dehydration of milk and is usually in the form of powder or granules.

Cream is the part of milk that is comparatively rich in milk fat; it is extracted by skimming or centrifuging the milk. Cream products include recombined cream, reconstituted cream, prepared creams, pre-packaged liquid cream, whipping cream, cream packed under pressure, whipped cream, fermented cream and acidified cream. This text focuses on all aspects of dairy science and technology including animal husbandry, welfare and behaviour, animal health, physiology, biochemistry and endocrinology of lactation, milk composition and processing.