Milk quality and characterization of different geographic regions of Brazil: a literature review

Milk is a rich source of nutrients that are important for human health. Due to its high nutritional value, it is considered an ideal substrate for the proliferation of pathogenic and deteriorating micro-organisms. Therefore, some control measures are necessary to guarantee the quality of milk and dairy products. The aim of this review is to present the main quality parameters in accordance with Brazilian legislation, as well as to provide data and studies on the characteristics and quality of milk in different regions of Brazil. For this purpose, besides consulting the legislation, articles were used located by the following keywords: "Milk quality", "Milk preservation" and "Milk storage", in the databases "Google Scholar", "SciELO" and "LILACs". It was found that even with control and regulation of dairy farming, failures can still occur in the various regions of the country, which can be minimised with technical assistance and rural extension.