The aim of this study was to estimate the concentration of milk true protein (TP) by mid-infrared absorbance method (MIR) in samples from bulk tank of dairy herds, and to determine the correlation between the results of TP of milk determined by Kjeldahl and MIR. Forty nine dairy herds were selected (17 Holstein, 6 Jersey and 26 Girolando) for monthly collections of samples from bulk tanks during the period of one year (284 samples). Fat, lactose, crude protein and total solids were firstly determined by MIR, and then analyzed for total and true protein by Kjeldahl method. The regression equation to estimate TP contents based on MIR crude protein determination was as follows: TP=0.0021+(1.0104xCP), where: TP is the content of true protein, CP is the crude protein content determined by the MIR method, and 0.0155 is the model error term.
dairy cow; milk composition; protein determination
