Introduction. Improving technologies and providing young farm animals with high-quality feed are the primary tasks for successful reproduction and maintenance of dairy cattle. The research objective was to assess the quality characteristics of colostrum and milk replacers, as well as their technological prospects.
Study objects and methods. The research featured colostrum, calf milk replacers (CMR), processing methods, and quality characteristics. The paper introduces an analysis of various sustainable processes of obtaining new CMRs.
Results and discussion. The article describes colostrum: recommended intake for young calves, qualitative characteristics, and control methods. It focuses mostly on the microbiological characteristics of colostrum, as well as on its role in developing the immune system of calves and the prospects of enzymatic regulation of its functional properties. Enzymatic regulation is based on deep proteins hydrolysates and a highly active serine protease (alcalase). The authors studied variants of using various enzyme preparations and bacterial starter cultures for obtaining hydrolyzed and fermented colostrum, analyzed the main process indicators of milk replacers with intermediate moisture content, and tested various methods for assessing the fatty acid and protein composition of concentrated milk replacers. Production methods proved to have a significant impact on the indicators in question.
Conclusion. Reproduction of the dairy herd genetic potential depends on the diet of the young farm animals, and so does the economy of agricultural production. Enzymatic processing of raw materials proved to be the most promising approach for obtaining products with improved functional properties. Deep colostrum hydrolysates can also be an important part of functional foods for children, athletes, in dietary foods, etc.
Effects of different starter cultures on the quality characteristics and shelf-life of fermented rice cake