Milk protects the health of newborns because it contains essential compounds that perform metabolic
activities. Despite these benefits, the study of phenolic compounds in milk has been poorly explored.
The objective of this study was to develop and validate a technique for extracting total phenolic compounds
(TPCs) from a milk matrix and then analyzing them using the Folin–Ciocalteu method. The
extraction technique was applied to goat milk and involved the addition of methanol, acetonitrile, and
Carrez I and II reagents, after which protein was separated from fat through centrifugation. Subsequently,
the technique was applied to goat (69.03 ± 6.23 mg GAE/L), cow (49.00 ± 10.77 mg GAE/L), sheep
(167.6 ± 58.77 mg GAE/L) and human milk (82.45 ± 12.3 mg GAE/L). The technique showed an acceptable
linearity (R2 = 0.9998), limit of detection (6.03 mg GAE/L) and quantification (16.2 mg GAE/L), repeatability
(RSD = 4%), reproducibility (RSD = 6.8%) and recovery (>85.41%); it is thus effective and can be used in
the routine analysis of milk. TPCs obtained from each type of milk indicate a high variability among
species and among members of the same species.