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The effects of storage conditions on quality changes of table eggs

November 2020
Journal für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit 16(1)

DOI:10.1007/s00003-020-01299-6

Authors:

Umut sami Yamak

Ondokuz Mayıs University

Musa Sarica

Ondokuz Mayıs University

Kadir Erensoy

Ondokuz Mayıs University

This study examined internal and external quality traits of organic and cage-system table eggs in different household storage conditions. Baseline values for internal and external quality traits were obtained for 60 fresh eggs per production system, and the remaining eggs were then divided into six groups according to storage conditions. Eggs were kept at two different temperatures (room temperature and refrigerator temperature) with three subgroups (with stretch-wrap, without stretch-wrap and washed). At 7, 14, 21, and 28 days, 15 eggs were selected from each group, and internal and external quality traits as well as weight loss were measured. Lowest egg weight loss occurred in eggs stored in the refrigerator with stretch-wrap (0.99%, p < 0.05), whereas the highest loss was seen in eggs which were washed and stored at room temperature (4.04%, p < 0.05). Mean albumen height of fresh eggs was 7.54 mm. At the end of 28 days of storage, this value was lowest in the eggs which were washed and kept at room temperature (2.08 mm) and highest in the eggs kept in the refrigerator (6.79 mm). Keeping eggs refrigerated significantly reduced the pH increase of both yolk and albumen (p < 0.05) and resulted in better quality traits than keeping them at room temperature. In view of these findings, it can be stated that keeping eggs in the refrigerator without washing, and with stretch cover until use had significantly positive effects regarding egg freshness.

Treatments, study design and number of eggs used in each treatments

…

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Journal of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (2021) 16:71–81

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00003-020-01299-6

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The eﬀects ofstorage conditions onquality changes oftable eggs

UmutSamiYamak1 · MusaSarica1 · KadirErensoy1 · VolkanAyhan1

Received: 14 May 2020 / Revised: 23 September 2020 / Accepted: 3 October 2020 / Published online: 16 November 2020

Abstract

This study examined internal and external quality traits of organic and cage-system table eggs in diﬀerent household storage

conditions. Baseline values for internal and external quality traits were obtained for 60 fresh eggs per production system,

and the remaining eggs were then divided into six groups according to storage conditions. Eggs were kept at two diﬀerent

temperatures (room temperature and refrigerator temperature) with three subgroups (with stretch-wrap, without stretch-wrap

and washed). At 7, 14, 21, and 28days, 15 eggs were selected from each group, and internal and external quality traits as well

as weight loss were measured. Lowest egg weight loss occurred in eggs stored in the refrigerator with stretch-wrap (0.99%,

p < 0.05), whereas the highest loss was seen in eggs which were washed and stored at room temperature (4.04%, p < 0.05).

Mean albumen height of fresh eggs was 7.54mm. At the end of 28days of storage, this value was lowest in the eggs which

were washed and kept at room temperature (2.08mm) and highest in the eggs kept in the refrigerator (6.79mm). Keeping

eggs refrigerated signiﬁcantly reduced the pH increase of both yolk and albumen (p < 0.05) and resulted in better quality

traits than keeping them at room temperature. In view of these ﬁndings, it can be stated that keeping eggs in the refrigerator

without washing, and with stretch cover until use had signiﬁcantly positive eﬀects regarding egg freshness.

Keywords Table eggs· Egg quality· Egg storage· Freshness· Weight loss

1 Introduction

Eggs are the only animal product with a protective shell. But

this shell is not suﬃcient to keep eggs fresh for a long time.

The quality traits of the egg start to deteriorate right after

oviposition. For this reason, many countries have developed

strict rules for maintaining egg quality. Similarities can be

observed in the legal regulations governing quality, storage,

shelf-life and consumer delivery of table eggs in the USA,

EU, Canada, Turkey and many other countries (Stadelman

and Cotterill 1995; EC Regulations 2008). According to

these regulations, eggs must be delivered to the consumer

within 21days of production and consumed within 28days.

It is further recommended that eggs are stored at room tem-

perature until the 18th day after the production date and

between 5–8°C from the 18th day onwards (EC Regulations

2008; Turkish Food Codex 2017).

Storage becomes necessary for maintaining the egg qual-

ity when market consumption of eggs is low. Although the

use of pasteurized liquid eggs is widespread in egg-break-

ing units, liquid eggs are mainly limited to industrial use,

with the majority of small enterprises and households using

shelled eggs (Sarica and Erensayin 2018). When storing

whole eggs, it is important to maintain freshness and pre-

vent the growth of microorganisms. To achieve these goals,

eggs may be coated with various materials such as propolis

(Copur etal. 2008), glycerin (Drabik etal. 2018) and dif-

ferent oils (Nongtaodum etal. 2013), stored under diﬀerent

atmospheric conditions or covered in plastic (Altan 2015).

The most common material used for packing eggs in Turkey

is transparent stretch ﬁlm (Yilmaz and Bozkurt 2009). Eggs

placed in carton viols are covered with this ﬁlm to enable

gas exchange. There are also diﬀerent modiﬁed atmosphere

packaging techniques using carbon dioxide for extending the

shelf life of eggs (Jia etal. 2019).

Studies have shown that shortly after laying, eggs begin

to undergo various degrees of CO2 loss and weight loss as

well as decreases in albumen height and increases in pH,

depending upon ambient temperature and storage duration

(Yilmaz and Bozkurt 2009; Brandao etal. 2014; Sekeroğlu

Journal of Consumer Protection and Food Safety

Journal fu

¨r Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit

* Umut Sami Yamak

usyamak@omu.edu.tr

1 Department ofAnimal Science, Agricultural Faculty,

Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun55139, Turkey

72 U.S.Yamak et al.

1 3

etal. 2016). Cold storage does not only preserve quality

and prevent microorganism growth, it also reduces CO2 loss

(Rocha etal. 2013). Although conditions vary with duration,

storage at 10–13°C and 80–85% relative humidity is consid-

ered suﬃcient for maintaining quality (Keener etal. 2006;

Altan 2015). However, storage at 7°C or below is needed to

prevent salmonella growth (Altan 2015).

Whereas eggs produced in cage systems may be pack-

aged directly without cleaning, eggs produced in free-range

and organic systems are more aﬀected by ﬂoor contamina-

tion and may require physical cleaning. One previous study

has shown washing to result in damage of cuticle layer that

makes eggs more susceptible to the negative eﬀects of stor-

age (Sarica and Erensayin 2018). However, other studies

have reported that egg quality is not aﬀected when washed

eggs are properly stored (Leleu etal. 2011; Liu etal. 2016).

In order to identify changes in egg quality that occur

during storage, this study examined egg-weight loss and

changes in internal quality traits, albumen, and yolk pH

characteristics of eggs collected from brown laying hens

raised in two diﬀerent production systems (organic and cage

system) and stored in two diﬀerent environments (room tem-

perature and refrigerated) with three subgroups (unwashed,

unwashed + stretch-covered, washed) for diﬀerent time peri-

ods (7, 14, 21, and 28days).

2 Materials andmethods

This study was conducted with eggs obtained from 80-week-

old Lohmann Brown laying hens raised in organic and cage

production systems. Organic eggs (n = 420) were obtained

from a commercial ﬁrm which produces certiﬁed organic

eggs (Yeşil Küre, Samsun, Turkey), and cage-system eggs

(n = 420) were obtained from the poultry unit of the Ondo-

kuz Mayis University Agricultural Faculty Research Farm.

In both systems hens were fed with a diet containing 15%

crude protein, 2650kcal/kg ME, 4.1% calcium, and 0.32

phosphorus. Eggs were individually numbered, stored at

room temperature (18–21°C) for 12h, and then weighed

on a precision scale accurate to 0.1g. Following weighing,

internal quality traits of 60 fresh eggs from each production

system were evaluated and recorded (baseline, day 1), and

the remaining eggs from each system were divided into six

treatment groups according to storage environment and stor-

age conditions. Egg quality and other traits were measured

in 15 randomly selected eggs per treatment at 7, 14, 21, and

28days of storage (Table1).

All eggs were stored in lidded cardboard viols holding 15

eggs each. Part of the eggs were hand-washed under ﬂowing

tap water (15–20°C for 45s). This group was not stretched

because the aim of the study was to analyze conditions at

the consumer household. Each group had four viols (4 × 15

eggs). One viol of eggs was analyzed at each measurement

week. Data loggers recorded ambient temperatures and rela-

tive humidity values to be 21–22°C and 55–60% for the

room-temperature environment and 5.55°C and 54% for the

refrigerated environment during the study.

Internal quality traits (egg weight; albumen width,

length, and height; yolk diameter and height; albumen and

yolk pH; and yolk color) were assessed by breaking eggs

onto a mirrored glass table. Albumen and yolk heights were

determined using a digital tripod micrometer accurate to

0.01mm. Albumen height was measured from the part of the

albumen nearest to the yolk, albumen width from the widest

edges of the albumen, and albumen length from the long-

est edges of the albumen, and yolk height from the center

of the yolk. Albumen and yolk pH values were measured

using a digital pH meter (Testo 205, Testo-Strasse 1, 79853

Lenzkirch, Germany) from three diﬀerent points in the albu-

men and yolk, and the average of these measurements was

recorded (Sarica etal. 2012). Yolk color was evaluated using

the Roche color range consisting of 15 yellow tones. Egg

weight loss; albumen, yolk and shell percentages; and albu-

men and yolk indexes and Haugh unit values were calculated

Table 1 Treatments, study design and number of eggs used in each treatments

RH relative humidity

Storage (days) Organic System Cage System

Room condition (21–22°C,

50–60% RH)

Refrigerator (5–6°C, 50–60%

RH)

Room condition (21–22°C,

50–60% RH)

Refrigerator (5–6°C, 50–60%

RH)

Non-

stretched

Stretched Washed Non-

stretched

Stretched Washed Non-

stretched

Stretched Washed Non-

stretched

Stretched Washed

0 15 15

7 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15

14 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15

21 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15

28 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15

73The eﬀects ofstorage conditions onquality changes oftable eggs

1 3

from the obtained data according to Stadelman and Cotterill

(1995), Altan (2015), and Sarica and Erensayin (2018).

Data were analyzed using 3-factor ANOVA with the fac-

tors production system (organic vs cage system), storage

duration (fresh, 7, 14, 21 and 28days), and storage condition

(room temperature, room temperature + stretch ﬁlm, room

temperature + washed, refrigerated, refrigerated + stretch

ﬁlm, refrigerated + washed). Tukey’s multiple comparison

test was used to compare means (Düzgüneş etal. 2003;

Özdamar 2013). All analyses were performed using the sta-

tistical program SPSS (Version 21).

3 Results anddiscussion

3.1 Egg weights andegg components

Organic eggs were signiﬁcantly heavier than cage eggs

(Table2; p < 0.05). Findings regarding the eﬀects of pro-

duction systems on egg yields and quality traits vary widely

among studies (Rakonjac etal. 2014). Production systems

have profound eﬀects on egg quality traits and are even more

critical in terms of hygienic traits and microbiological load

(Holt etal. 2011). The present study found weight loss per-

centages varied signiﬁcantly according to storage condition

and duration (p < 0.05), with the eﬀect of storage duration

on weight loss being signiﬁcantly higher for organic eggs

compared to cage eggs (2.38% vs 2.13%; p < 0.05). This is

most likely due to the loss of the cuticle layer that occurs

during physical cleaning of organic eggs, as previously noted

by Altan (2015). Eggs produced in cage system are gener-

ally cleaner than organic eggs. In organic systems hens have

outdoor access and eggs can be laid in places other than

nests. Thus, eggs are contaminated with mud, feces, dust

etc. Producers clean eggs physically before sending them

to market. This cleaning process damages the cuticle layer

which enables water loss of eggs.

Weight loss resulting from storage duration (between

days 7 and 28) ranged between 1.24% and 3.60%, with the

highest weight loss observed in room-temperature washed

eggs (4.04%) and the lowest weight loss in the refriger-

ated stretch-ﬁlm-covered eggs (0.99%). The weight loss

values obtained for eggs stored at room temperature in

our study were similar to those reported by Jones etal.

(2018) for eggs stored at 22°C over a four week storage

period (4.67%); however, their values for eggs refrigerated

at + 4°C for the same length of time (0.48% for washed

and 0.58% for unwashed) were lower than ours. Pujols

etal. (2014) reported values similar to ours for unwashed

eggs stored at room temperature. Storage conditions have

a major eﬀect on the weight loss of eggs. Diﬀerences in

relative humidity values could change rate of weight loss.

Also, strain and age of the hens probably aﬀect weight loss

related to the pore and shell structure of the egg.

In a study by Suresh etal. (2015) that examined the

eﬀects of diﬀerent covering materials on stored eggs, cov-

ering with chitosan signiﬁcantly reduced weight loss (1.64,

3.18, 4.97 and 7.02% at 1, 2, 3 and 4weeks, respectively,

for uncovered eggs stored at 22°C and 2.96, 6.77, 10.08

and 13.53% at 1, 2, 3 and 4weeks, respectively stored at

32°C). These weight loss values were higher than those

obtained in our study for eggs stored at room temperature.

The diﬀerences between studies may be due to diﬀerences

in age and genotype of hens, ambient temperature, and

external egg quality traits (Rakonjac etal. 2014).

In the present study, the production system had a sig-

niﬁcant eﬀect (p < 0.05) on percentages of both albumen

(organic 61.4%; cage 60.7%) and yolk (organic 27.2%; cage

27.8%). Storage duration also aﬀected egg component ratios,

with albumen percentages decreasing and yolk percent-

ages increasing with increasing storage duration (p < 0.05).

Although some diﬀerences occurred in the ratios of egg

contents according to storage conditions, these diﬀerences

were not signiﬁcant. This was mostly related to sample size.

But, signiﬁcant diﬀerences occurred at diﬀerent storage

duration for diﬀerent storage conditions. Also, interaction

between storage duration and storage condition was signiﬁ-

cant (Table2).

Previous studies have reported that production systems

can aﬀect egg shell, albumen, and yolk percentages (Rakon-

jac etal. 2014). Shell percentages varied signiﬁcantly among

cage, free-range, indoor-ﬂoor and organic production sys-

tems (11.0, 10.2, 10.8 and 10.2%, respectively), with small

diﬀerences also noted in albumen and yolk percentages

among systems (Hidalgo etal. 2008). Signiﬁcant diﬀer-

ences were found in albumen (61.59% for cage; 62.32% for

deep litter) and shell percentages (11.75% vs 12.34%) of

eggs from ISA-Brown chickens raised in cage and deep-

litter systems, whereas the diﬀerences in yolk percentages

(26.34% vs 25.98%) were insigniﬁcant (Pištěková etal.

2006). Organic eggs have higher yolk (54.6%) and albumen

(55.7%) percentages when compared to cage eggs (35.0%

and 33.8%, respectively) (Kouba 2003). Storage duration

aﬀects albumen and yolk percentages of brown eggs stored

at room temperature for 1, 3, 5, and 10days, with albumen

percentages decreasing and yolk percentages increasing with

storage duration (Scott and Silversides 2000). Previous stud-

ies have attributed changes in egg albumen, yolk and shell

percentages to variations in ﬂuid transfer from the albumen

to the yolk in connection with time-related changes in the

permeability of the vitelline membrane (Altan 2015).

74 U.S.Yamak et al.

1 3

Table 2 The eﬀect of storage duration and conditions on egg weight and percentages of egg components

Production system Storage

duration

(days)

Storage condition Egg weight (g) Weight loss (%) Albumen per-

centage (%)

Yolk

percent-

age (%)

Shell

percent-

age (%)

Baseline (Day 1) Final weight

Organic system Control Fresh egg 64.1 64.1 0.00 63.4 25.5 11.1

7 Room 60.6 59.6 1.64 62.4 26.4 11.2

Room + stretched 62.0 61.3 1.08 61.4 27.1 11.5

Room + washed 66.0 64.9 1.75 62.8 25.9 11.4

Fridge 62.9 62.5 0.59 60.8 27.7 11.5

Fridge + stretched 63.4 63.0 0.55 61.7 26.6 11.7

Fridge + washed 66.5 65.8 0.99 64.4 24.6 11.0

14 Room 64.7 62.8 2.96 60.4 27.9 11.7

Room + stretched 64.5 63.4 1.58 61.3 27.6 11.2

Room + washed 63.0 60.6 3.80 60.9 27.8 11.3

Fridge 66.2 65.4 1.20 62.2 26.2 11.6

Fridge + stretched 62.7 62.2 0.80 62.1 26.1 11.8

Fridge + washed 65.5 64.4 1.60 60.3 27.9 11.8

21 Room 64.9 62.1 4.41 59.5 28.7 11.8

Room + stretched 66.7 65.1 2.44 61.7 27.1 11.3

Room + washed 66.7 63.2 5.22 60.1 28.6 11.3

Fridge 66.8 65.4 2.09 61.7 27.0 11.3

Fridge + stretched 64.4 63.7 1.07 61.3 26.9 11.8

Fridge + washed 63.1 61.9 1.96 61.0 28.0 11.0

28 Room 69.3 65.5 5.49 61.3 27.8 11.3

Room + stretched 64.0 61.4 4.05 61.9 27.0 11.1

Room + washed 62.6 58.9 6.01 59.9 28.1 11.9

Fridge 67.5 65.4 2.99 62.9 25.7 11.4

Fridge + stretched 63.4 62.2 1.98 60.3 28.2 11.5

Fridge + washed 64.3 62.1 3.34 59.5 28.3 12.2

Cage system Control Fresh egg 70.5 70.5 0.00 62.6 25.5 11.9

7Room 68.5 67.3 1.71 60.5 27.6 11.9

Room + stretched 66.7 66.0 1.05 59.6 28.5 11.9

Room + washed 69.8 67.6 3.09 64.8 24.7 10.5

Fridge 64.1 63.5 0.93 59.6 28.1 12.3

Fridge + stretched 67.4 67.0 0.59 61.5 26.3 12.1

Fridge + washed 66.0 65.4 0.91 63.5 25.6 10.9

14 Room 66.5 64.7 2.67 59.4 29.2 11.4

Room + stretched 71.9 70.8 1.59 60.8 27.5 11.7

Room + washed 67.4 65.5 2.86 58.8 29.5 11.7

Fridge 68.2 67.3 1.27 60.0 27.9 12.1

Fridge + stretched 67.7 67.2 0.78 60.8 27.5 11.7

Fridge + washed 67.8 66.8 1.39 61.0 27.8 11.3

21 Room 67.8 64.8 4.38 60.1 28.3 11.6

Room + stretched 68.8 65.3 2.31 59.7 28.9 11.4

Room + washed 69.4 66.4 4.34 59.1 29.3 11.6

Fridge 68.3 67.1 1.70 61.6 27.0 11.4

Fridge + stretched 66.8 66.2 0.88 62.3 26.0 11.6

Fridge + washed 64.1 63.0 1.69 60.8 28.3 10.9

28 Room 67.7 64.5 4.65 59.0 29.2 11.8

75The eﬀects ofstorage conditions onquality changes oftable eggs

1 3

Table 2 (continued)

Production system Storage

duration

(days)

Storage condition Egg weight (g) Weight loss (%) Albumen per-

centage (%)

Yolk

percent-

age (%)

Shell

percent-

age (%)

Baseline (Day 1) Final weight

Room + stretched 67.3 65.2 3.21 61.1 27.8 11.1

Room + washed 65.5 61.9 5.24 61.3 27.6 11.1

Fridge 64.8 63.2 2.39 59.8 29.2 11.0

Fridge + stretched 67.9 67.1 1.30 59.8 28.5 11.7

Fridge + washed 64.5 62.8 2.54 59.8 29.1 11.1

SEM 0.198 0.195 0.029 0.114 0.101 0.051

Eﬀects

Production system (PS) 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.002 0.003 0.272

Organic 64.6b63.1b2.38a61.4a27.2b11.5

Cage 67.3a65.8a2.13b60.7b27.8a11.5

Storage duration (SD) 0.000 0.023 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.648

1 67.3a67.3a0.00e63.0a25.5c11.5

7 65.4b64.5bc 1.24d61.9b26.6b11.5

14 66.3ab 65.1b1.87c60.7c27.7a11.6

21 66.3ab 64.5bc 2.71b60.7c27.9a11.4

28 65.7ab 63.4c3.60a60.5c28.0a11.4

Storage condition (SC) 0.524 0.224 0.000 0.209 0.067 0.123

Fresh egg 67.3 67.3 0.00f 63.0 25.5 11.5

Room 66.2 63.9 3.49b 60.3 28.1 11.6

Room + stretched 66.2 64.8 2.16c 60.9 27.7 11.4

Room + washed 66.3 63.3 4.04a 61.0 27.7 11.4

Fridge 66.1 65.0 1.64d 61.1 27.3 11.6

Fridge + stretched 65.5 64.8 0.99e 61.2 27.0 11.7

Fridge + washed 65.2 64.0 1.80d 61.3 27.5 11.3

PS X SD 0.046 0.124 0.000 0.677 0.435 0.350

PS X SC 0.037 0.040 0.953 0.142 0.443 0.249

SD X SC 0.001 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.328

PS X SD X SC 0.356 0.356 0.014 0.216 0.355 0.712

SEM Standard Error of the Mean, a,..,e Means within columns with no common superscript letter diﬀer signiﬁcantly

3.2 Albumen quality traits

The albumen has a major eﬀect on overall interior egg qual-

ity. The eﬀects of storage duration and storage conditions

on albumen height, index, pH, and Haugh unit values of

organic and cage eggs are given in Table3. When compared

to cage eggs, organic eggs had lower albumen indexes (5.14

vs 5.37), higher Haugh-unit values (62.82 vs 60.45), and

higher pH values (9.00 vs 8.95). These ﬁndings are similar

to those of Castellini etal. (2006) and Minelli etal. (2007),

who attributed the diﬀerences mainly to the lower stress lev-

els of birds raised in organic production systems.

The thinning of the albumen is a sign of freshness loss

(Karoui etal. 2006). This study found storage time to have

a signiﬁcant eﬀect (p < 0.05) on albumen height and thus

albumen index and Haugh unit values, with rapid decreases

observed over time. Whereas fresh eggs had a mean albu-

men height and Haugh unit value of 7.54mm and 84.16,

respectively, these values decreased to 4.34mm and 53.93 in

eggs stored for 28days. Albumen pH also decreased from a

mean of 7.70 in fresh eggs to a mean of 9.18 after 28days of

storage. Similar to our ﬁndings, Kralik etal. (2017) reported

that stored eggs in market conditions showed signiﬁcant

decreases in albumen height (from 5.03 to 4.39mm) and

Haugh unit values (from 70.36 to 64.53) as well as increases

in pH (from 8.75 to 9.03) between 7 and 28days. Diﬀerences

in albumen heights of washed and oil-coated eggs stored

at room temperature (22°C) and unwashed eggs stored

at 4°C reported an sudden decrease in albumen height of

eggs stored at room temperature (Jones etal. 2018). Gas

exchange between the inside of the egg and the environment

causes carbonic acid destruction. Related to this destruction,

76 U.S.Yamak et al.

1 3

Table 3 The eﬀect of storage duration and conditions on albumen and yolk quality traits

Production system Storage dura-

tion (days)

Storage condition Albumen

height

(mm)

Albumen index Haugh unit Albumen pH Yolk height

(mm)

Yolk index Yolk color Yolk pH

Organic system Control Fresh egg 7.40 8.45 84.33 7.38 17.40 45.53 6.97 6.16

7 Room 4.47 3.96 63.31 9.24 14.83 35.62 5.60 6.33

Room + stretched 4.73 4.57 64.61 9.13 15.60 42.09 6.60 6.17

Room + washed 4.96 4.33 65.74 9.32 15.72 35.91 7.30 6.22

Fridge 7.14 7.53 82.97 8.69 17.23 42.16 6.70 6.09

Fridge + stretched 5.96 6.87 74.52 8.73 18.01 42.36 7.30 6.09

Fridge + washed 6.39 6.93 76.30 8.61 17.33 42.31 6.90 6.14

14 Room 3.56 3.25 48.52 9.15 15.62 36.13 8.40 6.22

Room + stretched 4.74 4.48 63.65 9.16 15.26 35.27 7.40 6.07

Room + washed 2.85 2.35 40.91 9.27 13.88 33.08 6.00 6.02

Fridge 5.96 6.39 73.82 8.81 17.82 45.05 5.60 6.00

Fridge + stretched 6.50 7.52 79.04 8.75 18.22 45.32 6.20 5.98

Fridge + washed 6.61 7.76 79.22 8.85 17.68 44.07 6.70 5.97

21 Room 2.34 1.80 29.98 9.32 12.96 34.09 6.00 6.26

Room + stretched 2.54 1.85 31.17 9.27 13.57 31.41 6.00 6.30

Room + washed 3.26 2.54 43.39 9.23 13.97 31.60 6.60 6.37

Fridge 6.63 7.43 79.07 8.89 17.59 43.71 6.20 6.14

Fridge + stretched 6.27 7.15 77.07 8.92 17.75 43.98 5.50 6.12

Fridge + washed 6.65 6.59 80.05 8.92 17.18 42.98 5.70 6.04

28 Room 2.53 1.96 29.82 9.27 12.37 25.77 5.90 6.32

Room + stretched 2.74 2.43 38.60 9.29 12.67 31.93 7.40 6.11

Room + washed 3.09 2.61 43.24 9.33 12.00 27.85 5.90 6.35

Fridge 5.61 6.02 71.17 9.12 14.61 36.00 7.20 6.15

Fridge + stretched 5.58 6.33 71.44 9.09 17.60 42.55 5.50 6.24

Fridge + washed 6.43 7.33 78.67 9.30 18.12 44.20 6.00 6.34

77The eﬀects ofstorage conditions onquality changes oftable eggs

1 3

Table 3 (continued)

Production system Storage dura-

tion (days)

Storage condition Albumen

height

(mm)

Albumen index Haugh unit Albumen pH Yolk height

(mm)

Yolk index Yolk color Yolk pH

Cage system Control Fresh egg 7.68 8.96 83.99 8.17 18.62 44.25 11.63 6.02

7 Room 4.22 3.91 56.03 9.20 16.51 38.75 12.90 6.11

Room + stretched 4.94 5.05 63.01 8.80 16.90 39.90 12.90 6.15

Room + washed 6.56 7.52 77.72 8.69 18.04 44.06 12.00 6.07

Fridge 6.92 7.89 81.93 8.69 18.36 44.07 12.30 6.07

Fridge + stretched 7.38 8.28 83.68 8.60 18.88 45.76 11.90 6.09

Fridge + washed 6.56 7.52 78.36 8.69 18.04 44.06 12.00 6.07

14 Room 3.02 2.82 36.67 9.16 15.74 36.47 12.30 6.04

Room + stretched 3.14 2.73 34.15 9.11 16.06 36.61 10.90 5.99

Room + washed 3.55 1.96 31.51 9.26 15.04 33.74 10.70 5.96

Fridge 6.55 8.10 78.01 8.76 19.25 46.25 11.10 5.98

Fridge + stretched 6.88 8.18 79.16 8.64 18.55 44.66 11.30 5.96

Fridge + washed 6.08 6.64 74.13 8.70 18.18 46.32 11.50 5.97

21 Room 2.83 2.30 34.85 9.29 13.79 32.65 11.80 6.12

Room + stretched 2.81 2.05 36.77 9.20 14.06 34.36 10.40 6.15

Room + washed 2.82 2.22 34.91 9.32 14.35 35.14 12.30 6.15

Fridge 7.15 7.29 81.90 8.91 18.10 35.34 10.30 6.05

Fridge + stretched 6.75 7.75 78.34 8.78 18.80 46.86 12.10 6.04

Fridge + washed 5.75 6.03 72.72 8.94 17.80 45.10 11.00 6.02

28 Room 2.12 1.59 22.62 9.23 12.63 26.61 12.40 6.25

Room + stretched 2.84 2.12 35.49 9.25 12.44 26.73 12.70 6.30

Room + washed 2.08 1.35 25.22 9.28 11.87 24.99 12.30 6.34

Fridge 6.79 7.84 80.96 9.02 18.28 45.76 11.60 6.19

Fridge + stretched 6.60 7.81 77.47 8.88 18.95 46.79 12.50 6.24

Fridge + washed 5.68 6.35 72.49 9.05 17.67 44.13 11.50 6.13

SEM 0.045 0.067 0.506 0.007 0.053 0.158 0.046 0.006

78 U.S.Yamak et al.

1 3

Table 3 (continued)

Production system Storage dura-

tion (days)

Storage condition Albumen

height

(mm)

Albumen index Haugh unit Albumen pH Yolk height

(mm)

Yolk index Yolk color Yolk pH

Eﬀects

Production system (PS) 0.319 0.050 0.031 0.050 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

Organic 5.00 5.14b62.82a9.00a15.80b38.35b6.46b6.17a

Cage 5.07 5.37a60.48b8.95b16.68a39.58a11.77a6.10b

Storage duration (SD) 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

1 7.54a8.71a84.16a7.77e18.01a43.88a9.30ab 6.09c

7 5.86b6.20b72.35b8.67d17.12b41.42b9.53a6.13bc

14 4.87c5.18c59.90c8.97c16.77b40.25b9.01bc 6.01d

21 4.65cd 4.58d56.68cd 9.08b15.83c38.10c8.66c6.15b

28 4.34d4.48d53.93d9.18a14.93d35.28d9.24ab 6.25a

Storage condition (SC) 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.006 0.000

Fresh egg 7.54a8.71a84.16a7.77e18.01ab 43.89ab 9.30ab 6.09bc

Room 3.14c2.70c40.23d9.23a14.31c33.26c9.41a6.21a

Room + stretched 3.56c3.16c45.92c9.15b14.57c34.78c9.29ab 6.15ab

Room + washed 3.52c3.11c45.33cd 9.21ab 14.36c33.30c9.14ab 6.19a

Fridge 6.60b7.31b78.73ab 8.86cd 17.66b42.29b8.88b6.08c

Fridge + stretched 6.50b7.49b77.59ab 8.80d18.35a44.79a9.04ab 6.10c

Fridge + washed 6.27b6.90b76.49 8.88c17.75b44.15a8.91ab 6.09bc

PS X SD 0.022 0.013 0.002 0.001 0.100 0.060 0.000 0.012

PS X SC 0.000 0.003 0.002 0.036 0.014 0.049 0.004 0.001

SD X SC 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

PS X SD X SC 0.004 0.006 0.000 0.000 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.011

SEM Standard Error of the Mean, a,..,e Means within columns with no common superscript letter diﬀer signiﬁcantly

79The eﬀects ofstorage conditions onquality changes oftable eggs

1 3

albumen becomes more watery resulting in a decrease of

albumen height. Coating eggs with diﬀerent materials ena-

bles delays in gas exchange and destruction of carbonic acid.

Eggs stored at room temperature have also been reported to

have Haugh unit values between 12–30 points lower than

refrigerated eggs, and thus have diminished marketability

(Jones etal. 2018; Pujols etal. 2014). In our study, eggs

stored in a refrigerator and covered with stretch plastic

maintained albumen pH values closest to those of fresh eggs

(8.80 vs 7.77). Pius and Olumide (2017) stated that based on

Haugh-unit values, oil-coated eggs stored at room tempera-

ture can maintain their A-quality levels for up to 50days, as

compared to only 22days for uncoated eggs stored at room

temperature. In contrast, Haugh-unit values of fresh brown

(ATAK-S) eggs decreased from 95.56 to 78.47 after 28days

of storage at room temperature, whereas albumen pH val-

ues rose from 8.62 to 9.28 (Sekeroğlu etal. 2016). In our

study, although albumen quality was better in refrigerated

eggs than in eggs stored at room temperature, none of the

diﬀerent storage treatments were able to maintain albumen

quality levels anywhere near those of fresh eggs. Haugh unit

and albumen index are the two main traits to determine the

quality of eggs (Sarica etal. 2012). Therefore the changes

of these traits are given in Figs.1 and 2 to show the quality

changes of eggs at diﬀerent storages conditions.

3.3 Yolk quality traits

While yolk height, index, and color values were better in

cage eggs, yolk pH was higher in organic eggs (Table3;

metsyscinagrOmetsysegaC

0714 21 28

Fridge Fridge-streched Fridge-washed

RoomRoom-streched Room washed

0714 21 28

Fridge Fridge-streched Fridge-washed

Room Room-streched Room washed

Albumen Index

Days

Fig. 1 The eﬀect storage duration and conditions on Albumen Index changes of cage and organic eggs (p < 0.05)

metsyscinagrOmetsysegaC

100

0714 21 28

Fridge Fridge-strechedFridge-washed

Room Room-strechedRoom washed

100

0714 21 28

Fridge Fridge-streched Fridge-washed

Room Room-strechedRoom washed

Days Days

Haugh Unit

Fig. 2 The eﬀects of storage duration and conditions on Haugh Unit changes of cage and organic eggs (p < 0.05)

80 U.S.Yamak et al.

1 3

p < 0.05). The lighter color of yolks obtained in organic eggs

in our study may be related to the quantity and quality of

pasture in the free-range area and the lack of color additives

in feed (Rakonjac etal. 2014).

In our study, yolk quality parameters were also found

to vary according to storage conditions and duration, with

increases in storage time resulting in signiﬁcant decreases in

yolk height (from 18.01 to 14.93mm), signiﬁcant decreases

in yolk indexes (from 43.88 to 35.28), signiﬁcant decreases

in yolk color values (from 9.30 to 8.66), and non-signiﬁcant

increases in pH (from 6.09 to 6.25). Similar results were

reported by Kasapidou etal. (2014), Suresh etal. (2015),

and Jones etal. (2018). In terms of storage conditions, our

study found refrigeration with stretch ﬁlm to maintain yolk

quality values closest to those of fresh eggs.

4 Conclusion

Eggs stored at room temperature for more than seven days

suﬀered from a loss in quality, regardless of storage con-

ditions. In contrast, refrigeration and covering with plas-

tic stretch-wrap during storage preserved the quality of

unwashed eggs for up to 28days. On the other hand, the

quality of washed eggs was preserved better in refrigeration.

The loss of quality in organic eggs stored at room tempera-

ture may be attributed to damage to the structure of the cuti-

cle layer caused by physical cleaning of dirt from the shell,

while the lighter yolk color found in organic eggs may be a

reﬂection of poor quality and amounts of pasture or lack of

additional dyes in the diet.

Acknowledgements This study received support from the Ondo-

kuz Mayis University Project Office (Project numbers: PYO.

ZRT.1904.17.006 and PYO.ZRT.1904.17.007).

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The current investigation was conducted to study the effectiveness of apple, grape and lemon vinegar coating in the shelf life of table eggs stored under room and refrigerator conditions for eight weeks. Two –hundred and forty table eggs from broiler breeder 57 weeks old were taken in the field and divided into eight treatments in two conditions, each including four treatments. T1 (control group) 60 eggs, T2 (apple vinegar) 60 eggs, T3 (lemon vinegar) 60 eggs and T4 (grape vinegar) 60 eggs were studied for eight weeks to evaluate egg quality characteristics after each two weeks and internal chemical compounds in the last week. The result showed a significant (P≤0.01) improvement of egg weight (g) in T2 and T3 in refrigerator conditions compared toT1, which recorded the lowest egg weight and decreased egg weight loss. Moreover, albumin height (mm) was increased while albumin diameter decreased, and yolk index significantly (P≤0.01) increased in refrigerator conditions. Additionally, air cells were significantly (P≤0.01) decreased in all vinegar-sprayed eggs, particularly in apple and grape treatments in both conditions. Three types of vinegar significantly (P≤0.01) improved moisture content by about 4%, and 2% in refrigerator condition. Results in this study indicate that using 5% of apple, lemon and grape vinegar solution of coating table egg extends egg-shelf life from one month to two months and more without negatively affecting the quality and quantity of eggs.

Glycerin as a factor for moderating quality changes in table eggs during storage

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2018
ARCH TIERZUCHT

Glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel production, is non-toxic to humans and the environment. With the current increase in the demand for fuels obtained from biomass, the amount of glycerine waste production is increasing. There are many ways to dispose this substance (in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and in chemical industry), but its utilization is still insufficient. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the possibility of limiting quality changes in table eggs during storage by coating the shells with a glycerol solution. The material used in this research consisted of 270 table chicken eggs collected on the same day. On the first day of the experiment, quality traits of 30 eggs were evaluated (initial control group). The remaining 240 eggs were divided into two equal groups: control (eggs that were not subjected to any treatment) and experimental (eggs that were coated with a 5 % aqueous solution of glycerol). The eggs were placed on transport trays and stored at 14 °C and 70 % humidity. Quality evaluations were carried out after 14 and 28 days of storage. The depth of the air cell, mass and specific gravity of the egg, the shell characteristics (water vapour conductance, strength, mass, thickness, and density), and the content traits (pH of the albumen and yolk, Haugh units, and colour and weight of the yolk) were evaluated. The results obtained suggest that the use of glycerine may contribute to slowing adverse changes in egg quality during storage by limiting CO2 removal from the egg content, which allows the egg to maintain albumen structure. Due to the fact that glycerine is a safe, cheap, and easy-to-apply substance, its large-scale use in poultry raw material storage seems to be a very real possibility.

Impact of egg handling and conditions during extended storage on egg quality

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2017

The international trade of shell eggs has become more important in recent years in order to feed a growing worldwide population, meet food manufacturing demands, and address supply issues during disease outbreaks or product recalls. The primary barriers for the export and import of shell eggs are: whether to wash eggs and egg storage temperature. The current study was undertaken to compare egg quality factors as influenced by egg washing and storage temperature. Three lots of nest run white shell eggs were collected on consecutive d from a commercial in-line egg production facility. The treatment and storage conditions were selected to encompass the primary egg handling and storage conditions utilized throughout the world: washed; washed, oiled; and unwashed stored at 4°C; and unwashed stored at 22°C. Eggs were assessed weekly from 0 to 15 wk. Percent egg weight loss was greatest for the unwashed 22°C eggs (15.72%) and least for washed, oiled 4°C (0.33%, P < 0.0001). Less than 24 h at 22°C had a greater impact on yolk shape measurements decline than 15 wk at 4°C (P < 0.05). After 15 wk, average Haugh unit scores for all refrigerated treatments were still Grade A, and unwashed 22°C dropped from Grade AA to almost Grade B in one week. Room temperature storage of eggs rapidly declines egg quality. Egg treatment did not impact egg quality factors when stored at 4°C. Washing and oiling eggs before refrigerated storage did suppress the rate of egg weight loss.

Quality of table eggs on the Croatian market

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2017

This paper investigates the physical and chemical quality indicators of table eggs available on the Croatian market. The research was carried out on eggs produced by two manufacturers, marked as A and B, on the 7th and 28th day of egg storing. According to the Regulations on egg quality (OJ 115/06, Art. 9), eggs are classified as class A or fresh eggs and class B or eggs for industrial processing. Referring to the weight of the eggs, the eggs of class A are divided into four grades: XL, L, M and S. Our research focused on the M weight grade eggs, because they are the most represented ones in our conditions. The following external indicators of egg quality were analyzed: shape index (%), egg weight (g), shell weight (g), shell strength (kg/cm2) and thickness (mm). Furthermore, the following indicators of inner egg quality were tested: weight of albumen and yolk (g), yolk colour, Haugh units (HU), albumen height (mm), pH of albumen and pH of yolk. Results of our research provided the following conclusions: based on evaluation of energy and protein value, eggs of the manufacturer B had better nutritive value than eggs of the manufacturer A. The results of research into quality of eggs on the 7th day of storage proved that there was statistically significant difference (P

Preservation of Quality of Table Eggs Using Vegetable Oil and Shea Butter

Article

Full-text available

May 2017

The poultry industry in Nigeria keeps expanding on a daily basis and it is faced with the problem of egg glut almost yearly. Most of the poultry are raised in rural environments where there is no available and avoidable power supply for egg preservation. The study was aimed at using locally available and cheap materials for preservation of eggs quality under the hot ambient temperature. The eggs were divided into three groups of 80 eggs each. The first and second groups were treated with vegetable oil (soybean oil) and shea butter, respectively, while the third group served as control. The eggs were stored under the ambient conditions and assessed for their physical and nutritional qualities on days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 43 and 50. The physical quality was assessed by determining the albumen height and the Haugh’s unit, while the nutritional quality was appraised through the protein concentration of the albumen. Based on the values of Haugh’s unit, eggs treated with vegetable oil produced excellent results; good quality eggs were obtained up to 50th day of storage. Treatment with shea butter maintained quality eggs up to the 29th day, while with untreated eggs good physical quality was maintained up to 22nd day of storage. Protein concentrations of eggs in the three groups studied decline with duration of storage, however the protein concentrations of eggs treated with vegetable oil were significantly higher than the other groups (p<0.001). The eggs treated with shea butter recorded a comparative higher protein concentrations than the untreated eggs (p=0.002).

Effects of egg shell color and storage duration on the external and internal egg quality traits of ATAK-S layer hybrids

Article

Full-text available

May 2016
CIENC INVESTIG AGRAR

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of storage duration and egg shell color on external and internal egg quality traits. Eggs were obtained from 29-week--old ATAK-S layer hybrids reared in a traditional cage system. Storage durations were set as 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. Shell color was classified as dark (59.00-67.99); moderate (68.00-70.99) and light (71.00-79.99) using the ∆E values of the eggs. The storage duration significantly affected the egg weight (P≤0.01), specific gravity (P≤0.01), breaking strength (P≤0.01), shell thickness (P≤0.01), shell weight (P≤0.01), surface area (P≤0.01), albumen index (P≤0.01), yolk index (P≤0.01), Haugh unit (P≤0.01), yolk color (P≤0.05) and albumen pH (P≤0.01). The egg shell color significantly affected the specific gravity (P≤0.01), breaking strength (P≤0.01), shell thickness (P≤0.01), shell weight (P≤0.01), albumen pH (P≤0.05) and albumen blood-meat spots (P≤0.05). The current findings revealed that the eggs should be transported to consumers as soon as possible, and further studies should be performed to darken egg shell colors. It was concluded that newly laid dark colored eggs had the best quality. © 2016, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Facultad de Agronomia e Ingenieria Forestal. All rights reserved.

The effect of propolis egg shell coatings on interior egg quality

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2008
ARCH GEFLUGELKD

Effects of various concentrations of propolis for egg coating (5%, 8% and 10% of propolis in ethanol) on the interior quality of fresh eggs were evaluated during 4 weeks of storage. During storage, albumen height decreased whereas albumen pH increased. The albumen pH of the uncoated eggs (control; Group I), and the eggs coated with alcohol (Group II) and 5% propolis (Group III) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the albumen pH of eggs coated with 8% (Group IV) and 10% propolis (Group V). On the other hand, at 4 weeks storage eggs of Groups IV and V had a higher albumen index than the rest of the groups. The HU value of eggs of Groups IV and V were significantly higher than for eggs of Groups I, II and III. Coating with 10% propolis (Group V) resulted in the maintenance of grade 'A' for 2 weeks longer than for the other groups. Propolis did not affect yolk-index (YI) value (p > 0.05). In conclusion, coating of eggs with 10% propolis extract improved interior egg quality during storage.

Modified atmosphere packaging of eggs: Effects on the functional properties of albumen

Article

Dec 2019

Effects of egg washing and storage temperature on the quality of eggshell cuticle and eggs

Article

May 2016
FOOD CHEM

This study investigated the quality of washed and unwashed eggs stored at 7 °C (WC and UC for washed and unwashed eggs, respectively) and 25 °C (WR and UR for washed and unwashed eggs, respectively) for 4 weeks. The results show that the Haugh unit, albumin pH, thick albumin ratio, yolk index, air cell size, and S-ovalbumin content of UC were significantly the most superior, followed by those of WC, WR, and UR, in that order. Scanning electron microscopy and cuticle staining confirmed the damages and decreased cuticle coverage caused by washing and extended storage. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that cuticle composition changed significantly after washing and storage (P < 0.05). High correlations were observed between the quality parameters evaluated. In conclusion, storage temperature critically influenced egg quality, and egg washing reduced cuticle coverage.

Laying hen rearing systems: A review of major production results and egg quality traits

Article

Mar 2014

Laying hen rearing systems have been the focus of scientific research for many years. Over the last few decades, new laying hen rearing systems have been rapidly introduced in an effort to harmonise poultry health and welfare with consumer, producer, industry and environmental demands. Given the above situation, the subject matter of this paper was a comparative review of the results obtained by different authors on the effect of rearing system on productive traits (egg production and mortality) and egg quality characteristics (egg weight, proportions of main egg parts, Haugh units, yolk colour and carotenoids) in laying hens. Although productive performance in alternative systems is often lower compared to conventional, intensive layers, eggs from alternative systems have been proven in numerous studies to have better nutritional properties. Moreover, research results indicate differences within rearing systems. In view of this, this overview of the literature on the use of different rearing systems in table egg production can serve as a tool in determining the future direction of research as well as an indicator of its practical application.

Application of chitosan for improvement of quality and shelf life of table eggs under tropical room conditions

Article

Jan 2015

Abstract The current investigation was conducted to study the effectiveness of chitosan coating in preserving the internal quality of table eggs stored under tropical room conditions of 32±1 °C and 60–70 % r. h. Internal, physical and microbiological quality of eggs coated with chitosan was evaluated during 5-week storage at different temperature (22±1 and 32±1 °C). Chitin was extracted from shrimp processing raw byproducts and deacetylated to high quality chitosan. The prepared chitosan was analyzed for its characteristic properties. The chitosan with a viscosity of 2206 mPa.S was used to prepare the coating solution. The weight loss, Haugh unit, and yolk index values suggested that coating of eggs with shrimp α-chitosan increased the shelf life of eggs by almost 4-week at 22±1 °C and 3-week at 32±1 °C compared with controls (non chitosan coated and acetic acid coated) eggs. Three-time repeated coating was more effective in preserving the internal quality and preventing weight loss than with single-time coating of chitosan on egg. Therefore, three-time coating of eggs with 2206 mPa.S chitosan offer a protective barrier for preserving the internal quality of eggs stored at tropical room conditions and concomitantly prevent contamination with microorganisms.