Relationships between chemical and physical parameters of bulk milk from Valle del Belice sheep

Figures & data

Table 1. Physico-chemical parameters of Valle del Belice Ewe’s milk.

Parameters	Mean value	Standard deviation	Minimum value	Maximum value
Fat (%)	6.95	0.94	3.79	10.14
Protein (%)	5.59	0.47	4.00	7.79
Casein (%)	4.59	0.41	2.97	5.84
Whey protein (%)	1.36	0.20	0.91	2.86
Urea (mg/dl)	37.21	11.47	6.55	70.63
Lactose (%)	4.60	0.20	3.51	5.89
pH	6.59	0.21	4.76	7.76
Titratable acidity (TA, °SH/100 mL)	9.81	2.56	5.98	35.60
Somatic Cell Count (SCC, Log10)	6.16	0.47	4.00	7.04
Total bacterial count (TBC, Log10 CFU)	5.55	0.35	4.49	6.68
Freezing point (MFP, °C)	−0.561	0.01	−0.624	−0.502

Table 2. Pearson correlations below the diagonal and partial correlation coefficients above the diagonal.

	Fat	Protein	Urea	Casein	Whey protein	Lactose	SCC	pH	TA	TBC	MFP
Fat	1	0.25***	−0.22***	0.15***	−0.01	−0.14***	−0.01	0.01	0.02	0.04	−0.22***
Protein	0.60***	1	0.08*	0.71***	0.35***	−0.29***	−0.04	0.02	0.06	0.07	−0.03
Urea	−0.14***	0.08*	1	0.00	0.27***	0.27***	−0.11**	0.16***	0.03	0.09*	−0.26***
Casein	0.54***	0.81***	0.08*	1	−0.14***	0.17***	−0.05	0.10**	−0.00	−0.10**	−0.02
Whey protein	0.23***	0.48***	0.27***	0.31***	1	−0.11**	0.12**	0.02	−0.12***	−0.00	−0.07
Lactose	−0.33***	−0.37***	0.31***	−0.19***	−0.21***	1	−0.17***	0.01	0.01	−0.07	−0.20***
SCC	0.01	−0.03	−0.16***	−0.08*	0.08*	−0.22***	1	0.09*	0.05	−0.04	0.02
pH	0.01	0.14***	0.11***	0.17***	0.19***	−0.08*	0.08*	1	−0.60***	−0.04	0.26***
TA	0.05	−0.03	−0.05	−0.06***	−0.16***	0.05	−0.04	−0.66***	1	0.11**	−0.06
TBC	0.05	0.04	0.05	−0.04	0.02	−0.07	−0.03	−0.14***	0.18***	1	0.04
MFP	−0.21***	−0.17***	−0.29***	−0.16***	−0.12***	−0.20***	0.13***	0.31***	−0.25***	−0.04	1

SCC: somatic cells count (Log10); TA: titratable acidity; TBC: total bacterial count (Log10); MFP: milk freezing point.

* p < 0.05.

** p < 0.01.

*** p < 0.001.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.