Comparison of three analytical methods to determine serum in refrigerated raw milk

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to compare three analytical methods to determine serum in refrigerated raw milk. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), acidic and colorimetric ninhydrin methods were applied. A collection of 100 samples of raw milk from cooled expansion tanks took place. The results showed that 10 samples (14.7%) were negative and 58 (85.3%) were positive for the acidic ninhydrin method. The mean sialic acid content found in the ninhydrin technique was 5.58μg/mL, with a more frequent value of 2.70μg/mL. From all 68 HPLC negative samples, two were positive (2.94%) and 66 (97.06%) negative to the colorimetric method. The relative frequency of positive samples was 32%, HPLC had the highest mean serum levels (14.37%), followed by the colorimetric method (5.28%) and acid ninhydrin (3.12%). The high-performance liquid chromatography method was different from the acid and colorimetric ninhydrin methods. The ninhydrin and colorimetric methods were not different from each other, both of which could be used as screening methodologies. Among the three techniques, HPLC was the most sensitive methodology for the detection and quantification of serum in refrigerated raw milk.