DETERMINATION OF MINERALS AND THREE TOXIC ELEMENTS IN RAW COW’S MILK

The present experiment was carried out to assess the residues levels of mineral elements (Na, K, P, Ca, Mg, Cl , Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn) and three toxic metals (Cr, Cd and Pb) in raw cow milk collected from 18 semi and industrial dairy farms during June, July and August, 2013, in Kermanshah province, west of Iran. The raw cow’s milk samples were digested using wet digestion method, and then the elements were determined directly by FAAS, ETAAS, Uv-visible spectrophotometer, AES and IC in the solutions of digested samples. There is a preliminary correlation between animal feeding, manufacturing process and elemental profile in cows’ milk and dairy products. The mean mineral elements concentrations in milk samples were (692.77 mg/l) for sodium, (1394.44 mg/l) for potassium, (1282.17 mg/l) for calcium, (67.22 mg/l) for magnesium, (1707.50 mg/l) for chloride, (744.00 mg/l) for phosphorus, (11.55 μg/ml) for iron, (10.02 μg/ml) for zinc, ( 0.15 μg/ml) for copper, (0.06 μg/ml) for manganese, (5.53μg/l) for lead, (3.27μg/l) for cadmium and (7.22 μg/l) for chromium. In this investigation the sequence of macro elements can be arranged as Cl > K >Ca > P > Na > Mg. The contents of elements in raw milk from Kermanshah dairy farms except (Mg, Cl and Fe) were on the normal levels stated national dairy federation (NDF) standard and Codex. The differences in the content of the minerals between the farms can be ascribed to different nutrition management, different concentrates and using mineral supplementations.