The marked precipitation of Ca phosphate found to occur at ~ pH 6·8 when milk is heated to high temperatures may account for the minimum in the heat coagulation time (HCT)–pH curve at ~ pH 6·8. Dialysis of milk against water for about 3 h converted a normal type A milk to one with type B heat stability characteristics by reducing stability in the region of the HCT maximum while increasing stability in the region of the minimum. Reduction of the concentration of urea, lactose, Na or chloride did not cause these changes and gross micelle structure appeared to be intact following short dialysis as indicated by turbidity and sedimentability. Dilution of milk with water increased stability at the minimum without significantly affecting stability at the maximum. Pre-heating at 80°C for 10 min precluded the effect of dilution but not of dialysis.

Two experiments with dairy cows and one with suckler cows and their calves were conducted to examine the use of secretion rate measurements for estimating total milk production. In the first experiment both 4- and 6- h intervals between measurements gave similar estimates of total 7-d milk yield. The second experiment compared estimated and measured milk composition as well as yield. Milk and solids-not-fat yields were underestimated with dairy cows as a result of an extended milking interval before measurement. However, fat yield was overestimated, indicating that all residual milk was not removed at the first oxytocinaided milking. It was concluded that for the beef cow, previous interval effects would be eliminated by the frequency of calf suckling, but that residual milk effects might cause a 3–6% and a 16% overestimation of milk and fat yields respectively.

In the third experiment, the milk yield of suckler cows was estimated from measurements of secretion rate and from changes in calf weight; good agreement was obtained provided there were at least 3 consecutive controlled sucklings.

Quarter-milk cell counts and milk yields from 1000 cows in the province of Noord-Brabant were obtained over a 12-month period. The data from 933 animals, mainly heifers, were used to examine statistically the relationship between cell counts, as a criterion for sub-clinical forms of mastitis, and milk yield. Losses in milk were assessed by quarter, by pairs of quarters and by cow. The conclusions were that the losses in milk due to sub-clinical forms of mastitis, as indicated by cell count, can be substantial. The existence of a compensating increase in milk yield from a healthy gland, in response to the loss of milk from a neighbouring quarter with raised cell count, could not be demonstrated.

α-Lactalbumin and SDS in addition to β-lactoglobulin introduced pH sensitivity to the heat stability–pH curve of serum protein free casein micelles particularly by increasing stability in the pH range 6·4–6·7. Bovine serum albumin, ovalbumin and lysozyme caused marked destabilization of milk and casein micelle suspensions throughout the pH range 6·4–7·4. Tetramethyl ammonium bromide caused destabilization of milk at pH values > 7·0, but had no effect in the region of maximum stability while the non-ionic detergents Triton X-100 and Tween 80 had no effect on heat stability.

A new spectrofluorimetric assay procedure for bovine milk N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAGase) is described for use as a routine screening test for the detection of abnormal uddersecretions. This procedure uses 4-methylumbel-liferyl-N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminide as substrate. On the basis of the greater sample throughput, increased product sensitivity detection of NAGase and the absence of turbidity problems, it is considered to be superior to a previously reported spectrophotometric procedure (Kitchen, 1976). The correlation coefficient between the somatic cell count and the fluorimetric procedure using 243 quarter fore-milk samples was 0·86. Distribution studies on bovine milk and mammary gland homogenates indicated that this enzyme activity was located predominantly in the soluble whey protein fraction and the post-microsomal supernatant. Mammary gland secretory cells contained high levels of NAGase and appeared to be the major source of the enzyme in milk whilst NAGase from other sources (white blood cells, blood serum) contributed only a minor proportion (5–15%) of the total activity in milk. The implications of these findings on the value of the NAGase test as a means of mastitis diagnosis are discussed.

TwO Latin-square experiments using lactating Jersey cows have been made to determine the response to 4 levels of acetic acid given as a supplement to diets fed at Woodman's Standards. The response in milk yield and composition to daily supplementary infusions of acetic acid is curvilinear, the point of inflexion occurring between the levels of 450 and 600 ml acetic acid/d. The direction of responses to the 150-ml level of infusion varied between the experiments. At the 600-ml level of addition the non-significant increases in milk fat, protein and lactose yield led to a significant increase in solids corrected milk yield. The effects of acetic acid infusion on the composition of the milk fat were determined.

The release of 12% (w/v) TCA-soluble N-acetylneuraminic acid from casein at 5 temperatures between 110 and 150°C was determined and showed a Q10 °C about 3; coagulation occurred when about 20% of the κ-casein was hydrolysed. Renneting of milk or colloidal calcium phosphate-free milk rendered the caseinate very heat-labile at its normal pH when more than about 20% of the κ-casein had been hydrolysed. Heat stability at the pH of maximum stability was not significantly decreased until after very prolonged renneting, but stability at pH values alkaline to the minimum was very sensitive to such hydrolysis suggesting that κ-casein is the principal factor responsible for heat stability in that region. Systems which do not have a maximum or minimum in the heat coagulation time–pH profile, i.e. serum protein-free casein micelles in milk diffusate, or milk which had been dialysed against water, were destabilized by renneting throughout the pH range 6·4–7·4.

Possible mechanisms by which the degree of acetylation of hepatic CoA might be regulated were examined in lactating and in non-lactating dairy cows. This involved the measurement of the hepatic steady-state concentrations of free CoA, acetyl-CoA, free carnitine, acetylcarnitine and total acid-soluble carnitine in freezeclamped biopsy samples, the measurement of the hepatic release of acetate from acetylcarnitine in vitro, and the measurement of the rate of hepatic output of acetate and ketone bodies in vivo.

The hepatic ratio of [free CoA]/[acetyl-CoA] was 0·11 in lactating cows and 0·59 in non-lactating cows. There was a significant rise in the hepatic concentration of acetyl-CoA and a significant fall in that of total acid-soluble carnitine in the lactating cows as compared with the non-lactating cows.

There was a net in vivo output of acetate and of ketone bodies from the livers of both lactating and non-lactating cows. The rates of output amounted to 7·77 and 2·00 mmole/min for acetate and ketone bodies respectively in the lactating cows, and 4·95 and 2·14 mmole/min in the non-lactating cows.

The rate of enzymic release of acetate from acetylcarnitine in vitro amounted to 0·93 and 0·34 μmole min−1 (g wet wt)−1 at 37 °C for liver homogenates derived from lactating and non-lactating cows respectively. The activity observed in the case of the lactating cows was sufficient to account for the rate of hepatic acetate output observed in vivo.

The heat stability of the milk supply to manufacturing creameries in south-west Scotland was examined over 15 months from Nov. 1975 to Jan. 1977. For all but 2 months of this period the heat stability of the milk was very highly significantly correlated with the naturally occurring level of urea. Between 72 and 90% of the variation of coagulation time (CT), measured at the natural milk pH, was accounted for by changes in milk urea alone. For a short period, in May and June, the CT of the milk at natural pH fell within the minimum of the CT–pH profile, but insufficient data were available to allow the occurrence of this phenomenon to be related to changes in milk composition.

Pellets produced by the centrifugation of bovine milk and of pre- and post-partum colostrum consistently contained small cell fragments (1–4 μm long) morphologically characterized by their possession of abundant microvilli along one margin. They were more common in strippings than in fore-milk and during the first 4–6 weeks of lactation than at later stages. Their possession of cytoplasmic fat droplets and putative casein micelles suggests that they originate from secretory cells of alveoli or small ducts. The significance of their numerous microvilli is discussed.

The variation in kinematic viscosity (ν) with solids concentration and temperature has been determined for native skim-milk concentrates and reconstituted New Zealand skim-milk. Below 40% (w/v) total solids, samples reconstituted from a single batch of skim-milk powder model the behaviour of native concentrates obtained from an evaporation plant at all times of the year. Above 40% (w/v) agethickening and seasonal variations in the viscosity of native concentrates become significant. Age-thickening can be reduced by cooling the concentrate. These results are discussed in relation to milk powder manufacture.

Milk samples from 3 groups of cows were taken at regular intervals throughout lactations following 2 spring and 1 autumn calving. The average radius of casein micelles in milk was determined either from the wavelength dependence of turbidity or from the diffusion coefficient as measured by a quasi-elastic light scattering method. A 2-fold variation in naturally occurring average radii was found both in milks from the same cow at different times and between milks from different cows at the same time.

Whole goat κ-casein was prepared by chromatography of whole casein on hydroxyapatite. Chromatography of whole κ-casein on DEAE-cellulose separated 5 fractions. All of them were sensitive to chymosin. Their amino acid and carbohydrate composition, phosphate content and molecular weight were determined. Galactose, N-acetylgalactosamine, N-acetyl and N-glycolyl neuraminic acids were identified in whole κ-casein. It appears that goat κ-casein, like cow, buffalo and ewe κ-caseins, is composed of several fractions having identical peptide chains and differing in their carbohydrate contents. The main fraction, devoid of carbohydrate, was treated with chymosin. The para-κ-casein and caseinomacropeptide were isolated. Their amino acid composition and phosphate content were determined.

Samples of bulk silo milk from 5 creameries in the south west of Scotland were taken over a 16-month period. The average radii of casein micelles were determined by measuring the wavelength dependence of the turbidity of skim-milk diluted with its own ultrafiltrate. In addition, the concentrations of casein, soluble and colloidal Ca and P1 were measured. The average size of casein micelles followed a pronounced seasonal trend with smaller average sizes in the summer compared to the winter period, confirming earlier observations made on milks from individual cows. The average size of casein micelles correlated positively (r = +0·777, P < 0·001) with the amount of colloidal P1 per unit weight of casein and negatively (r = −0·77, P < 0·001) with casein-bound Ca. Average micelle radius was negatively correlated with heat stability at the natural pH of milk (r = −0·61, P < 0·001), but there did not appear to be any causal relation between these 2 variables.

A progressive change takes place in the heat stability of skim-milk during concentration. At the maximum in the coagulation time (CT)–pH profile of milk concentrated to over 20% of total solids (TS) the total N depletion curve changed from single- to 2-stage and CT became insensitive to the addition of urea. Furthermore, addition of β-lactoglobulin to skim-milk concentrates destabilized the heated milk whilst the opposite effect was observed in the presence of sulphydryl-group blocking agents. As a result of these observations, it has been suggested that the mechanism of coagulation in concentrated milk is similar to that which occurs within the minimum of the CT–pH profile of skim-milk at normal levels of TS.

The proteins of the milk-fat globule membrane in homogenized cream have been studied using polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and electron microscopy. The effects of pasteurization and subsequent storage of the homogenized cream on the strength and composition of the membrane have also been investigated. Caseins and undenatured whey proteins are adsorbed to the fat–serum interface during homogenization; the caseins are the more dominant group, but with no apparent preference for any individual protein. After homogenization, but before pasteurization, whey proteins are more easily removed by washing than are the casein components. After subsequent pasteurization, and on storage, whey proteins become more tightly bound and are no longer readily removed by washing. Electron micrographs showed that the interfacial membrane between fat droplets and the serum phase consists of a protein composite material containing casein micelles, casein micellar sub-units and molecular, or non-micellar protein.

Bovine casein micelles in pre- and post-partum colostrum have been characterized by both electron microscopy and light scattering. Attempts have been made to relate the changes in average micelle size to the partitioning of Ca and inorganic orthophosphate betwen the colloidal and aqueous phases. Pre-partum colostrum, and to a decreasing extent post-partum colostrum, contain casein micelles several microns in diameter. These giant micelles often contain closed cavities suggesting that they are formed by aggregation of particles comparable in size to normal casein micelles. Electron microscopy of mammary gland alveoli from nearterm pregnant heifers shows clear differences in average size between micelles immediately before and after secretion from Golgi vesicles. It appears that micelles aggregate in the alveolar lumen, possibly as a result of continuing co-precipitation of casein with Ca phosphate.

When caprine butterfat was heated in the presence of water vapour and the absence of air, γ- and δ-lactones and methyl ketones were produced which were qualitatively the same as those from bovine butterfat. The saturated δ-lactone and methyl ketone potentials of the caprine butterfat were of the order of one third those of bovine butterfat when the goats and cows received similar rations. γ-Dodecanolactone, γ-dodec-cis-6-enolactone, δ-tetradec-cis-8-enolactone and δ-tetradec-trans-8-enolactone potentials of the caprine butterfat were in the same range as for bovine butterfat when the animals were on similar diets. The γ- and δ-lactone and methyl ketone potentials and the fatty acid composition of caprine butterfat varied with the diet of the goat. Supplementing the diet with polyunsaturated fat, whether or not protected against biohydrogenation in the rumen, lowered the saturated δ-lactone and methyl ketone potentials as well as the proportion of C10,12,14,16 fatty acids in the caprine butterfat. Inclusion of crushed oats in the diet increased the γ-dodecanolactone potential. The γ-dodecanolactone and they γ-dodec-cis-6-enolactone potentials were also enhanced by feeding seed oil supplements which were not protected against ruminal hydrogenation. To prevent the development of the sweet off-flavour associated with γ-dodecalactones in heated, ruminant-derived meat and butterfat with elevated levels of linoleic acid, it appears that oats should be excluded from the basal ration of the ruminant and the polyunsaturated oil supplement should have the highest possible degree of protection against biohydrogenation in the rumen.