Production, Physicochemical, and Microbial Profiles of Shimpia

Traditional dairy products are primarily produced for local household consumption within the source community. Their production as well as physicochemical and microbiological properties may differ based on milk source, way of processing, and agroecological factors. This is a questionnaire study aimed to assess traditional processing techniques as well as physicochemical and microbiological profiles of Shimpia in selected districts of Wolayta Zone, southern Ethiopia. The study was conducted in three selected agroecologically different districts, enrolling a total of 162 farmers from kebeles such as Kokatemarachere (79), Bossakecha (45), and Gulgula (38). Additionally, ten Shimpia samples from each kebele (totally 30 samples) were collected to determine the physicochemical and microbial analysis using standard procedures. The results showed that 57.9% of respondents in the selected study areas produced Shimpia from milk sourced from local breed cows. The majority (64.8%) of respondents used tap water for cleaning of equipment used for Shimpia production. Nearly half (52.5%) of respondents used locally available herbs as cleaning agent. The pH of Shimpia prepared at farmers’ house ranged from 4.5 to 4.7 with average constituents of total solid 11.7%, fat 4.5%, protein 3.1%, lactose 3.7%, and ash 0.7%. The total solid and fat content of samples were significantly different across agroecological locations (p < 0.05). In addition, enumeration of microorganisms (cfu/g) showed that 8.79 ± 0.04 log10 cfu/g, 6.49 ± 0.05 log10 cfu/g, 4.77 ± 0.01 log10 cfu/g, and 4.22 ± 0.03 log10 cfu/g for total aerobic bacteria count, yeast and mold count, total lactic acid bacteria, and total coliform count, respectively.