COMPARISON OF MILK FROM FARMS WITH BIOLOGICAL, CONVENTIONAL AND TRANSITIONAL FEEDING

Milk samples collected from 3 farms located in the Lorraine area (North-East of France) and produced under different feeding systems have been compared. One farm was working according to "biological" methods for twenty years, the second produced under classical conditions, and the third was a farm in transition. The milk samples have been compared with respect to hygienic quality, physicochemical parameters, and technological properties. Differences have been noted concerning nitrogen compounds, zinc level and coagulation time of curd after renneting. Other tendencies although being non significant, were noted related to micellar size, sodium, magnesium and copper levels.