Philippine Standard Time
The COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected activities worldwide. It challenged countries on how to be resilient in balancing economic and health aspects. It also limited the mobility of people and basic needs and raw materials across international and local borders. During this pandemic, the stable supply is disrupted.
The Philippines, which is rich in agricultural resources is ironically highly dependent on importation of dairy products. This study therefore aims to develop carabao’s milk powder, a prototype that is nutritious, has long shelf life, and the raw material is locally sourced. This will make use of encapsulation and spray drying technology that substantially reduce moisture thereby expected to be shelf stable and will make the transport of such products more efficient.
This study is expected to develop a working process and prototype of carabao’s milk powder using the locally available spray dryer that can be adopted by Waffle Time Inc., the partner company. Waffle Time Inc. has the market and has the potential to develop the product in the industrial scale. This project also aligns with the DOST’s expected outputs, as this can potentially contribute to 5Ps: Publication, Patent or intellectual property, Product, People service as well as Place and partnership. This idea would also empower carabao farmers in fostering the dairy carabao industry. This would create a community or a network of milk collectors in the locality that can provide the dairy requirements of consumers, which can lead to economic growth.
Water buffalo or carabao milk is highly nutritious, yet its storage and distribution is still limited. In particular, the shelf-life of pasteurized carabao milk is limited to 7 days under low temperature condition. Thus, carabao dairy processors opt to keep the product at frozen condition. However, this is cumbersome to consumers eager to use the milk for direct consumption and such frozen product state also poses a challenge during transport and distribution.
The development of a working process and prototype of carabao’s milk powder that can be used for further utilization and/or direct human consumption. Apply spray drying technology to remove the moisture, preserve milk nutrients, and increase the stability of the product even at room temperature. Employ the use of drying aids to improve powder yield. Determine the important parameters during spray drying and critical levels of additives.
The prototype is produced and sourced locally (“atin ito”). It has a shelf-life up to 8 months at 30 ºC compared to the 7 days for carabao’s milk and 4 weeks for frozen pasteurized milk. It is easy to pack, transport and can easily be distributed. It is composed of properties and ingredients conforming to Codex Alimentarius International Food Standards. It is a nutritious dairy product being a rich source of fat but with significantly low cholesterol content and a rich source of protein and minerals, particularly calcium.
Target beneficiaries are dairy carabao farmers and processors. It can be generally useful for health conscious consumers. Dairy product consumers seeking for low cholesterol content and high calcium. The pastries and bakery manufacturers can also benefit from the developed carabao milk powder prototype.
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