Assessment of rural dairy products in north kordofan state, Sudan-1

Abstract

Rural dairyprocessing situation in western Sudan (North Kordofan) was assessed through astructured questionnaire. Some rural dairy products were sampled and assayedfor bacteriological and chemical composition. The objectives were toinvestigate traditional dairy products and evaluate their nutrients compositionand hygienic situation. Descriptive statistics were used for the statisticalanalysis of the survey data, a randomized complete block design for the cheesesamples data. There were seasonal fluctuations in quantities of milk processed.Most of the producers (62.7%) used mixed cow, sheep and goat milks for cheeseprocessing. Braided cheese had a high cost of production compared with whitesoft cheese. Major production constraints stated were marketing, fluctuationsin milk supply and shortage of water. Milk sources reported were from nomadicand transhumant herds, and to a lesser extent from villages and only very fewof the producers had their own dairy animals. Cheese samples (white soft andbraided) contained variable chemical constituents that varied from location toanother. Staphylococcus, bacillus, Corynebacterium, and Aerococcus were alldetected in these samples, but they were free from Coliform bacteria.