Improving microbiological quality of Etawa goat milk with dates (Phoenix dactylifera) and cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) extract

Etawa Goat Milk can meet the body's vitamin and mineral needs. In Indonesia, Etawa goat milk is commonly sold and consumed fresh without adequate sterilization. As a result, this raw milk is at risk of contamination by various microorganisms. To address this issue and improve the microbial quality of Etawa goat milk, a study was carried out to evaluate the effect of incorporating an aqueous extract of dates and clove on the microbial quality of fresh Etawa goat milk. The Experimental design of this study is a completely randomized design consisting of 5 groups. Each group contains 25 mL fresh Etawa milk, and add with various volumes: 0.5 ml, 1.0 ml, 1.5 ml, 2.0 ml, and 2.5 ml of dates and cloves extract. The method used is the total plate count method. The identification of bacteria in untreated milk shows the presence of Escherichia coli, Flavobacterium sp, Kingella sp, Lactobacillus sp, Proteus sp, Pseudomonas sp, and Staphylococcus sp. The results indicate a reduction in the microbial count in milk treated with plant extract across all dosage ranges. The highest reduction was observed at the dosage of 2.5 ml, with a decrease of 44.3% (874,238 CFU/ml). The T-test yielded a P-value of 0.000, indicating a significant difference between the treated and untreated samples. This study found that date and clove extracts can improve the microbiological quality of fresh Etawa goat milk.