Evaluación de manejo de ordeño manual y mecánico, y su efecto en la calidad higiénica de la leche mediante el uso del CMT en el Cantón Latacunga provincia de Cotopaxi.

Abstract

The present work aimed to evaluate milking management and its effect on the hygienic quality of milk from manual and mechanical milking in the canton of Latacunga. A total of 35 cows from different farms were studied, 23 from manual milking and 12 from mechanical milking, which were analyzed using the California Mastitis Test (CMT) to determine the presence of subclinical mastitis and to assess the hygienic quality of the product. The study had a quantitative, descriptive approach with a non-experimental and cross-sectional design, and included the observation of procedures and practices carried out in each milking, the identification of inadequate practices, and the comparison of results between both systems using CMT. The results showed that 96 % of the manual milking samples tested negative, while in mechanical milking 25 % tested positive. The chi-square analysis indicated that management variables were not statistically significant since the p-value was 0.0806 for the relationship between complete or incomplete milking and the CMT results, and a p-value of 0.2533 for the relationship between covered or uncovered milking and the CMT results. Both systems can produce milk with good hygienic quality; however, manual milking showed lower incidence of subclinical mastitis compared to mechanical milking. It is concluded that the implementation of good milking management, together with constant training of producers, is important to guarantee the hygienic quality of the product, regardless of the system used.