1Department of Animal Breeding, Mendel University of Agiculture and Forestry in Brno, Zemedelska 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
2Department of Food Technology, Mendel University of Agiculture and Forestry in Brno, Zemedelska 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
3Department of Nutrition, Animal Husbandry and Animal Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackeho 1–3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic.
* For correspondence: Tel: 00 420 545 133 230; Fax: 00 420 545 211 128; E-mail: lenkasnovot@seznam.cz
Effects of lactation stage (LS) and parity (PA) on daily milk yield (DMY), composition, properties and rennet curd quality (RCQ) of organic sheep milk were evaluated using 10 crossbred ewes reared on an organic sheep farm. Both LS and PA as well as the interaction of LS × PA had a significant effect on DMY and the contents of total solids, fat, protein, casein and lactose. The DMY for the whole lactation increased with the order of lactation. LS, PA and the interaction of LS × PA also had a significant effect on all milk properties as well as the RCQ. In the course of all lactations, titrable acidity (TA) kept increasing. It was found that the higher the values of titrable acidity, the longer the rennet clotting time became and RCQ became worse.
Organic sheep milk, stage of lactation, parity, milk yield, composition and properties of milk, rennet curd quality
