CONCENTRATION OF TRACE ELEMENTS IN RAW MILK OF WILD AND HYBRID COWS IN GANJAM DISTRICT

Abstract

The milk samples of wild and hybrid cows were collected randomly in different small and marginal farms of Berhampur city of Ganjam district, Odisha. Concentration of magnesium, calcium, potassium, sodium, copper and iron were determined from the milk samples. Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) was used for the analysis of milk samples to detect the concentration of trace elements. 10 milk samples each from wild and hybrid cows were taken separately for the study. Average concentrations of trace elements in raw milk of wild cows were the following: Calcium- 1229 ppm, Magnesium 136.3 ppm, sodium 395.3 ppm, Potassium 1415 ppm, iron 1.51   ppm, and copper 0.67 ppm. Average concentrations of trace elements in raw milk of hybrid cows were the following: Calcium- 1304 ppm, Magnesium 141.7 ppm, sodium 396.9 ppm, Potassium 1427 ppm, iron 1.99   ppm, and copper 0.71 ppm. The concentration of trace elements like calcium, Potassium and Iron are higher in hybrid cows as compared to the wild cows. The result found a significant increase (P<0.001) in calcium and iron contents in the milk of hybrid cows in comparison to wild cows. Similarly, a significant increase (P<0.05) in magnesium and potassium contents of milk in hybrid cows were observed when compared with wild cows. Whereas a non-significant (P, NS) increase in sodium and copper contents in the milk of hybrid cows were observed in comparison to wild cows.