author(s)
Rita Mehla

abstract
The objective of present investigation was to evaluate the effect of hot climate of summer season on major compositional parameters of Murrah buffaloes. Raw buffalo milk samples from the rural area were collected fortnightly during winter (November- January); thermoneutral (February- March) and summer (April- June) season. Significant (p<0.05) decrease in fat content (8.35% to 7.57%, winter to summer) was observed during the summer season. Milk protein content (from 3.55% to 3.25%) was also observed to be decreased significantly (p<0.05) due to the summer stress. SNF content decreased significantly (p<0.05) from 9.90 to 9.22% from winter to summer season. During thermoneutral zone composition is alike to winter season. Conversely ash and lactose content did not change significantly (p>0.05) during different climatic conditions. Results indicated that summer season has a depressing effect on milk major compositional parameters.