AVALIAÇÃO DA QUALIDADE DO LEITE IN NATURA PRODUZIDO POR PEQUENOS PRODUTORES DO MUNICÍPIO DE BAGÉ-RS, BRASIL

The milking procedure are crucial to obtaining milk with good microbiological quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of hygienic milking on the quality of milk produced by three small farms of Bagé-RS. One sample was collected from each producer monthly. After three sample collections, a technical training was performed, showing to producers how conduct hygienic milking and a comparison was made with the results obtained from three sample collections after training. Samples of crude milk was submitted to mesophilic and psychrotrophic microrganisms counts and total and fecal coliforms evaluation. Also, physicochemical analyzes were performed in relation to alizarol, acidity, density and peroxidase. The results showed a reduction of bacterial counts and acidity, complying with the microbiological requirements of current legislation. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: leite, ordenha higiênica, qualidade físico-química, qualidade microbiológica. KEY-WORDS: milk, hygienic milking, physicochemical quality, microbiological quality.