An In-Line Test for the Colorimetric Determination of Somatic Cell Count

Many attempts had been made to bring faster testing to the cow-side. The introduction of automatic milking systems (AMS) has the potential to enhance milk production and milk quality. In addition, the size of dairy farms has been increasing, with the increasing need for better cow management. Many of these larger farms are moving to AMS. For this reason, there has been increasing interest in the development of a new type of in-line sensor. In-line SCC sensors are designed to take samples directly from the milking lines and measure signals that may reflect the health of an animal. The proposed research is directed at demonstrating the feasibility of using a simple colorimetric in-line quantitative test to measure somatic cells in milk samples. Since over 90% of somatic cells are white blood cells (WBC) or leukocytes, the proposed method, that utilizes the enzymatic properties of WBC, will directly determine the somatic cell count, yielding quantitative cow side results for the milk of individual cows. The proposed analytical system (Porta-IL) will use an inexpensive photometer and liquid reagents for the detection of sub-clinical mastitis. The proposed test will produce accurate quantitative SCC measurements in approximately 90 seconds.