Department of Animal, Range Land and Wildlife Science

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    Concentration of Heavy Metals and Microbial Quality in Cows’ Fresh Milk in Eastern and South Eastern Zones of Tigray Ethiopia
    (Mekelle University, 2025-05-25) Asmeret Kidane Tekle
    Cow milk is important foods of daily nutrient especially, for infants, vulnerable groups, and elderly people. But milk may contain various toxic pollutants and microbial contaminants which are dangerous for health. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the concentration of heavy metals and microbial quality of cows’ fresh milk in the eastern and southeastern zones of Tigray. Two districts were selected from each zone: Kilite Awulaelo and Tsirae Wenberta (eastern), and Degu’a Tembien and Enderta (southeastern), with one tabia sampled per district; Aynalem, Mahbere Weyni, Limat, and Mahbere Genet, respectively. A total of 120 local breed lactating cows (30 per tabia), reared for over five years, were sampled. Fresh milk (50 ml per cow) was collected in sterile plastic bottles and transported at on dry ice. Heavy metal concentrations (Fe, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb) were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry following acid digestion, HNO3 and H2O2. Microbial quality, including Total Bacterial Count (TBC), Total Coliform Count (TCC), and Total Yeast & Mold Count (TYMC), was assessed using standard culturing methods. Data was analyzed using SPSS software and Microsoft excel. The result showed that, the highest concentration recorded were Fe (26.660±15.076 mg/l) and Cd (0.0442±0.025 mg/l) in Tabia Aynalem, Cr (0.0725±0.048 mg/l) in Mahbere Genet, and Cu (1.519±0.314 mg/l), Ni (0.0506±0.030 mg/l), and Pb (0.0807±0.053 mg/l) in Tabia Lim’at. All heavy metals except Fe showed statistically significant variation among sites (P ≤ 0.05). Fe was higher from all the selected elements in all study areas, Cu, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb exceeded from FAO/WHO permissible limits in most areas. Microbial results showed the highest means of TBC (6.23±0.88 Log10 CFU/ml) and TYMC (5.36±0.58 Log10 CFU/ml) in Mahbere Weyni, and TCC (5.22±0.89 Log10 CFU/ml) in Aynalem. However, there were no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) in microbial counts across study areas. Generally this study indicates most of the selected heavy metals were higher from standards and microbial quality: TBC mostly higher from acceptable standards but TCC was classified as ‘very good’ in all study areas. Further study on heavy metals and microbial quality in milk on these study areas is important.