A preliminary study on milk composition of three buffalo breeds located in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka

Buffaloes have great potential to be developed as one of the main dairy animals in Sri Lanka because of their higher adaptability to local conditions compared to European dairy cattle breeds. Processing dairy products such as curd, cheese, and yoghurt from buffalo milk has several advantages due to its greater quantities of total solids, solid-nonfat, and protein. However, milk composition and coagulation properties largely depend on the breed. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the milk composition of three major buffalo breeds in Sri Lanka. The milk of the Lanka buffalo contained 18.1% total solids, 10.7% solid non-fat (SNF), 7.5% fat, 4.9% protein, 4.9% lactose, and 0.9% minerals. The milk of the Murrah crossbreed contained 15.4% total solids, 10.1% SNF, 5.3% fat, 4.2% protein, 5.1% lactose, and 1.1% minerals. The milk of the Nili-Ravi crossbreed contained 16.6% total solids, 10.2% SNF, 6.4% fat, 4.1% protein, 4.9% lactose, and 1.1% minerals. The results indicate that milk composition varies among the breeds in which the milk of the Lanka buffalo has significantly higher amounts of total solids, SNF, and fat. Protein, lactose, and mineral contents do not vary signiticantly.