Production of traditional yogurt from fresh milk from dairy cows in Kosovar families

Kosovo has very favorable natural conditions for developing livestock production, especially milk production from cows. According to the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, there are 132,971 heads of cattle in the whole country. Of the cattle, the most important role is played by dairy cows, which represent the main specificity of cattle keeping, due to milk production. The total number of dairy cows in the total number of cattle reaches 51.2%,” says the KAS report, where 92% of farms in Kosovo have 1-5 dairy cows, of which 60% are of the “Mixed” breeds and 35% of the “Noble” breeds, as well as 5% of the Autochthonous Bush breed, while 5.8% are commercial farms. “Based on data and statistics, Kosovo in 2023 has about 5,200 farmers with over five dairy cows. Kosovo has a utilized agricultural land area of 416,072.33 hectares (including common land). Of the total utilized agricultural land area, the largest part belongs to: meadows and pastures (including common land) with 52.5%; and arable land, where fields participate with 44.9%. The Government of the Republic of Kosovo subsidizes 80.00€/year per head of cow, while direct subsidies are 50 cents per liter of fresh milk. Kosovo has 43 companies for processing milk into various products according to market demand. The production of traditional yogurt from fresh milk of dairy cows in Kosovar families has a long tradition and is passed down from generation to generation, especially in the villages of Kosovo, where approximately 50% of the population lives in villages. Traditional yogurt production at home is one of the foods that is rarely missing in the refrigerators of an Albanian housewife. Usually, yogurt production is produced by using previous yogurt for coagulation, as well as in rare cases by using yeast. Although yogurt purchased in various stores can greatly facilitate the preparation of various recipes, it cannot be compared to the value of yogurt prepared at home. Physico-chemical analyses of fresh and raw milk with full fat for the production of yogurt were carried out at the National Agricultural Institute of Kosovo in Peja, with an average fat percentage of 4.3%. We have continuously followed the entire process of traditional yogurt production in seven Centers of Kosovo with 10 families each. That is, samples were taken from 70 families three times, that is, 270 analyses were made.