Effect of a pre-milking teat foam and a liner disinfectant on the presence of mesophilic and (proteolytic) psychrotrophic bacteria prior to milking

Contamination of raw milk by psychrotrophs can lead to the production of heat-resistant proteases and subsequent spoilage of UHT milk. Therefore, this research communication evaluated the effect of a pre-milking teat disinfectant (active components: L-(+)-lactic acid and salicylic acid) and a liner disinfectant (active components: peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide) on the number of mesophilic and (proteolytic) psychrotrophic bacteria prior to milking. The teat orifices of 10 cows were sampled using a swabbing procedure before and after treatment with a pre-milking teat disinfectant on six subsequent days. On the teat orifices, there was a small but statistically significant decrease in the psychrotrophic bacterial counts between pre and post dipping. No differences were observed for the mesophilic bacterial counts and proteolytic active counts. Liners were also sampled using swabs pre and post disinfection. No statistically significant decrease in the bacterial counts was observed post liner disinfection, although there was a numerical decrease. Sixty-two percent of the proteolytic psychrotrophs were pseudomonads: 16.5% of which were P. fragi, 14.3% P. lundensis, 10.0% P. fluorescens and 2.9% P. putida. Trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) analysis revealed a wide variety in proteolytic activity (from 0 to 55 µmol glycine/ml milk) and the presence of high producers. It can be concluded that there was only a minor effect of teat and liner disinfection on the psychrotrophic bacterial counts indicating that the measures presented did not result in a reduction of the targeted bacteria on teat orifices and liners.