Effect of single tube guiding milking system and periodic air inlet on the concentration of free fatty acids in conventional milking parlour.

Free fatty acids (FFA) reduce the quality of milk and dairy products by generating a rancid and soapy taste. Their origin is the spontaneous or induced enzymatic hydrolysis of milk-fat. In this study the influence of the milking system MultiLactor on the concentration of FFA was examined. The MultiLactor is a quarter-individual milking system with periodic air intake and sequential pulsation, designed for being used in conventional milking parlours. The experimental design included testing of 40 milk samples at two different flow rates. It could be shown that milking with the MultiLactor causes an increase of the concentration of FFA in fresh milk. The FFA increase was higher for a flow rate of 1 l/min compared to a flow rate of 3 l/min. It could be found out that the increase of FFA named in previous studies is higher than the increase found for the MultiLactor.