Guide to Flavor and Odor Defects in Milk

By Riya Barthwal*

Milk is one of the most healthy and nutritious drinks in the world. Its taste is unique, pleasantly sweet, and is mostly liked by all. But because of the perishable nature of milk, it is very important to keep milk properly. Milk absorbs odors from its surroundings and gets oxidized easily, which is always a problem for the milk traders. As it results in flavor and odor defects.  To prevent these kinds of defects in milk, proper milk handling procedures from the farm to the consumer are very essential. Here are some common flavor and odor defects and their causes. 

1.Normal milk - pleasantly sweet with no aftertaste. 

2. Acid flavor– Sour, may cause a tingling sensation on the tongue.

 Cause - Growth of lactic acid-producing organisms due to poor refrigeration

3. Malty flavor- Astringent mouth-feel, tongue & mouth lining feel shriveled. Acid taste. 

Cause - denatured proteins due to high heat treatments or with staleness 

4.Barny flavor/odor - Unpleasant odor and taste of barn or basically a poorly maintained barn or unpleasant feed. 

Cause- non ventilated cowsheds and not fully covered milk.

5.Cowy or “cow's-breath”- unpleasant medicinal or chemical aftertaste in milk. 

Cause - absorbed, transmitted odor due to cow inhaling barn odors because of poor ventilation of cowshed and unclean barn conditions. 

6.Bitter flavor-  bitter taste but no odor. The taste sensation is detected on the tongue and tends to persist. 

Cause - the enzymatic breakdown of milk proteins to small bitter peptides or intake of some bitter weeds by cows. In the late lactation period, bitter milk is common.

7. Cooked flavor-  cooked flavor persists which varies in intensity from sweet, pleasant to caramelized or cabbage-like, which is surely objectionable. 

Cause - Higher pasteurization temperatures. 

8. Fruity Odor/flavor- this is usually similar (not exact) to pineapple, apple, strawberry or other fermented fruit or may have sauerkraut or vinegar-like odor or flavor.

Cause - the growth of psychrotrophic spoilage bacteria

9.Garlic/Onion pungent odor and flavor- this is highly objectionable. 

Cause - Animals ingesting wild onion or garlic weed as their feed.

10. Metallic flavor- wet cardboard, oily, chalky, or fishy flavor occurs. Sensation comes quickly. Cause – when milk fat gets oxidized and catalyzed by copper or certain other metals contacting milk (e.g., copper pipe, white metal, metallic water supply). It may also be associated with raw milk of cows fed high fat feeds (e.g., soybeans) or lack of antioxidants.

11.Salty flavor - No odor but salty taste. This is generally easily detected. 

Cause - associated with late lactation or mastitic (having udder infection) cows. 

12. Weedy flavor – the flavor of weed comes in milk. 

Causes – if an animal has consumed feed within 3 hours of milking then this flavor comes.

All these defects cause problems in milk sales. As India is the biggest producer of milk in the world, its quality should also be good. 

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of World Milk Day we should try to learn more and more about the do and don’ts of practices of milk production. By taking care of certain things we can improve the quality and taste of milk.

Author's Profile

*Riya Barthwal

Research Scholar (M.Sc-Food Technology), GBPUA&T, Pantnagar

Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, Pin-263145

Email ID - riyabarthwal2@gmail.com

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Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Tehri Garhwal

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