Egg shell treatment methods effect on commercial eggs qualityABSTRACT:
The objective was to evaluate commercial eggs quality after being subjected to a cleaning process and immersion in whey protein concentrate (WPC) as a function of storage time. The experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial 4x7, being four methods of treating shell (not cleaned and not coated with WPC, not cleaned and coated with WPC, cleaned and not coated with WPC, cleaned and coated with WPC and seven periods of storage (1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days) for a total of 28 treatments, with five replicates of four eggs each. Quality parameters evaluated were weight loss of eggs (%), specific gravity (g/cm3), haugh units (HU), yolk index (YI) and potential hydrogen (pH) albumen. The storage period increase, regardless of the shell treatment method, causing weight loss in eggs, reductions in specific gravity in the Haugh units, yolk index and increase in the albumen pH. The cleaning method makes egg's internal quality worse during storage. Coverage of whey protein concentrate is a viable alternative for commercial eggs conservation stored at room temperature in order to minimize quality loss during storage, including eggs that need to go through the cleaning process.
Key words: food; laying hens; storage; whey protein concentrate
