THE IMPORTANCE OF MASTITIS IN MILK QUALITY: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Dairy farming is a widespread activity worldwide and occupies a prominent space in the world economy. Currently, Brazil is the world's third largest producer of milk, with more than 34 billion liters per year. However, despite its economic and social importance, milk quality is still a major challenge for the dairy sector. The quality of raw milk is closely related to the health of the milked animals, to the degree of initial contamination that occurs soon after milking and to the hygienic conditions of obtaining, storing and transporting the milk to the processing unit. Among these causes that exert an extremely harmful influence on milk quality, mastitis is considered the disease that most negatively impacts the dairy chain. Based on the great importance of this disease in the dairy chain, this study aimed to compile information about mastitis, such as: its impacts on milk quality, treatment and prevention measures. For this, a survey was carried out through a search in the online databases: Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) and PubMed, covering articles published in the last five years. A total of 175 articles were identified based on the keywords: "bovine mastitis prevention"; "bovine mastitis treatment"; "bovine mastitis" AND "milk quality". A total of 113 studies were included, of which 42 (37.17%) referred to forms of prevention, 50 (44.25%) to treatment, and 21 (18.58%) to milk quality. The results show that management practices and emerging technologies are fundamental to reduce the incidence of mastitis and improve milk quality, while therapeutic alternatives, such as bacteriophages and nanocomposites, present promising solutions against antimicrobial resistance. Finally, changes in milk composition and industrial impacts reinforce the need for integrated approaches to mastitis control.