Devising an Express Method for Estimating the Quality of Colostrum and Its Components Based on Electrical Conductivity

This paper reports the development of an express method for assessing the quality of biologically active substances derived from colostrum. We tested the hypothesis that there may be a dependence between the amount of protein that is part of the colostrum and its characteristic (a difference in molecular masses) and electrical conductivity. It has been shown that the colostrum contains several hundred proteins: it depends on the individual characteristics of cattle. The removal of lipids was accompanied by an increase in electrical conductivity from 5 % to 18 % compared to the whole colostrum while the subsequent removal of high-molecular proteins increased the electrical conductivity by 50‒100 % compared to skimmed colostrum: this depends on the individual characteristics of cattle. Such an individual feature of the colostrum composition reflects the uniqueness of the individual animal's metabolism. A mathematical model has been built for the dependence of the content of charged molecules in the solution of proteins on the molecular mass of proteins, which explains the relationship between electrical conductivity and the molecular mass of proteins. It was shown that there is a direct correlation between the colostrum electroconductivity and the temperature in a measuring cell in the range of temperatures from 14 °C to 19 °C. The electrical conductivity of colostrum components increased by no more than 20 % during storage (at a temperature of 3‒4 °C) up to 18 days, which is associated with protein degradation The electrical conduction method could be used to assess the colostrum composition during storage. Technology for obtaining different colostrum components (skimmed fraction and a fraction of low-molecular components) has been devised, as well as a method for assessing the quality of products based on the characteristics of electrical conductivity. Electrical conductivity is a promising method for assessing the quality of products that are derived from colostrum, at different shelf life at different stages of production: raw materials, fat removal, obtaining a fraction with a predefined composition of protein