# Milk Quality

> Rapid compositional analysis for raw milk - fat, protein, and adulteration screening to replace slow wet-chemistry tests at collection centres.

- Canonical URL: https://spectrify.ai/research-pipeline/milk-quality

- Sector: Sector 01 · Food & Agriculture
- Status: Proposal Sent
- Tags: NIR, Dairy, Milk, Adulteration, Food Safety

Milk quality assessment at rural collection centres is a persistent bottleneck in dairy supply chains. Current methods - Gerber (fat), Kjeldahl (protein), and adulteration-specific wet chemistry - require hours of laboratory processing and are impractical at village-level collection points. Farmers are paid a flat rate regardless of composition quality, creating no incentive for quality improvement. NIR-based multi-parameter analysis at the point of collection could enable real-time composition-based pricing and adulteration detection simultaneously.

## What We've Established

### NIR Precedent in Dairy

NIR spectroscopy is already established as a reference method in commercial dairy processing (AOAC 972.16). The challenge is adapting laboratory-grade NIR instruments to the temperature, humidity, and handling conditions of rural collection environments, and building a locally calibrated model rather than relying on generic instrument factory calibrations.

### Adulteration Vectors in Target Market

Key adulteration vectors in the Sri Lankan and South Asian collection context include water addition, starch, and detergent - each producing a distinct spectral signature distinguishable from genuine composition variation. Detection specificity at collection-centre concentrations is under initial review.

## Technical Approach

Multi-output PLS-R model predicting fat, protein, and lactose simultaneously. Adulteration detection framed as a one-class classification problem (flag any sample diverging from the authentic milk spectral distribution). Reference methods: Gerber fat, ISO 8968 protein, and enzymatic lactose assay. Proposal includes a staged calibration protocol beginning with samples from partner collection centres.

## Where We Stand

A formal proposal has been submitted to the target partner covering project scope, calibration dataset requirements, timeline, and pricing. Awaiting partner review and confirmation.

## Next Steps

- Obtain proposal sign-off and commence field sample collection protocol design
- Identify accredited reference laboratory for calibration sample analysis
- Design a pilot deployment at two to three collection centres for field validation

## Related Projects

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[Research Pipeline](https://spectrify.ai/research-pipeline)