Buffalo milk quality: a study of seasonal influence on composition and somatic cell count.

Despite buffalo milk being an important food worldwide, not much is known about factors that influence its quality on Brazilian buffalo milk farms. It ranks second in total volume of milk production, with cow milk in first place, but a lack of minimum legal parameters for buffalo milk is another problem faced by some countries, as it happens in Brazil where buffalo population represents less than one percent of dairy cows, even though Brazilian buffalo herd is one of the largest in Latin America, with a successful dairy processing chain. This study investigated the composition and somatic cell counts (SCC) of buffalo milk produced in a high-altitude tropical region in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, where buffalo calving naturally happens from February to May.