What is milk
According to the RD 9/5/29 n ° 994 and subsequent modifications, the milk is defined as:
" an opaque white or yellowish liquid, with a sweet taste deriving from the regular, complete and uninterrupted milking of the mammary glands of animals in good health and nutrition". It can be called simply milk that comes from cows, for the other species instead the origin (sheep's milk, donkey's milk etc.) must always be specified.
NB: the term milk CANNOT be used for the marketing of vegetable drinks. So for soy-based drinks - like rice-based drinks, etc. - the name "milk" is improper and prohibited for commercial purposes.
Buffalo milk
Buffalo milk is the product of the mammary glandular secretion of the female buffalo; it has a sweet taste and an opaque white color.
History and Dissemination
Hygienic aspects
From a hygienic point of view, the need to keep the animal constantly smeared with mud creates many difficulties. During milking of buffalo milk it is necessary to comply with certain cleaning procedures, such as to minimize unwanted microbial contamination (especially coliforms).
Values and Nutritional Properties
Comparison between cow's milk and buffalo milk
 | Nutritional composition of Buffalo milk per 100 grams of edible part : | Nutritional composition of milk Vaccine per 100 grams of edible part : | |
 | |||
| Power | KCal | 114 | 64 |
| water | g | 81.2 | 87 |
| proteins | g | 4.5 | 3.3 |
| Lipids | g | 8.5 | 3.6 |
| Saturated | g | ND | 2:11 |
| Monounsaturated | g | ND | 1.1 |
| polyunsaturated | g | ND | 00:12 |
| B.C. Linoleic | g | ND | 00:07 |
| Ac Linolenico | g | ND | 00:05 |
| Cholesterol | mg | ND | 11 |
| carbohydrates | g | 5.1 | 4.9 |
| Simple | g | 5.1 | 4.9 |
| Sodium | g | ND | 50 |
| Potassium | mg | ND | 150 |
| Football | mg | 198 | 119 |
| Phosphorus | mg | 121 | 93 |
| Riboflavin | mg | ND | 00:18 |
| Niacin | mg | ND | 0.1 |
| Retinol | mcg | ND | 37 |
The Commentary of the Nutritionist
Compared to the vaccine derivative, buffalo milk has different chemical and organoleptic characteristics; it has a greater dry substance (fats, proteins and all that is not water) which gives it a dairy yield greater than 80%.
Put simply, from 1 liter of buffalo milk you get over 240 grams of mozzarella, while for the same raw material vaccine, only 130 grams. Furthermore, compared to the product of other animals, there are higher concentrations of "lactobacilli" in Buffalo milk. The enzymatic activity of these bacteria is responsible for the taste and aroma of the food, and influences the acidification of the curd typical of the resulting buffaloes.
Buffalo milk is more caloric than cow's milk and, having a fixed residue similar to that of sheep, it is very suitable for cheesemaking; in Italy the use of buffalo milk is widespread in the production of pasta filata cheeses (buffalo mozzarella) but its use is also used in the making of some dairy products and aged cheeses. The content in mineral salts (with the exception of calcium which is slightly higher) and in lactose are common to the vaccine. It is therefore a food contraindicated to those suffering from lactose intolerance, who will necessarily have to orient themselves on the consumption of plant milks, such as rice or soy. Due to the phenomenon of cross-reactivity, buffalo milk is also contraindicated for those suffering from cow's milk allergy.
Bibliography:
- Cheese atlas. Guide to over 600 cheeses and dairy products from all over the world - Hoepli publisher - G. Ottogalli - cap. 6.1.2 - pag 42-43
- Qualitative and quantitative study of the lipid composition of lactic buffalo fat: effect of seasonality, nutrition and development of a method of assessing genuineness - G.Lambiase, R. Romano - pag 10;
- RD 9/5/29 No. 994
- Proceedings I National Congress on Buffalo Breeding . Eboli (SA) - ZICARELLI L. (2001) - 1:19
- The milk report 2003 - milk-ISMEA OBSERVATORY
- Food composition tables INRAN - L. Marletta E. Carnovale
