"Ititu" is a concentrated fermented milk utilized by Borana pastoralists in Southern Ethiopia. The effect of types of container used (glass, fibrous), smoking (smoked, non-smoked) and whey withdrawal (whey, non-whey withdrawn) treatments on the microbiological and chemical compositions of the fermented milks were investigated over a storage period of 28 days. Microbiological results indicated that the type of container used had significant effect (p $>$ 0.05) on total bacterial count (TBC) and lactic acid bacterial counts (LAB) for Weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 and on coliform count (COLI) for Weeks 3 and 4. These counts determined for the fermented milks in the glass containers were found to be significantly lower compared to those in the fibrous vessels. There was significant difference (p $>$ 0.05) in the overall proximate composition for container and whey withdrawal treatments compared to smoking treatment. / An increased breakdown of the major caseins ($ alpha sb{ rm s1}$ and $ beta$) over the storage period was indicated. / A significant increase was noted on the content of the free amino acids compared to the total amino acids over the storage period.

No description available.