Shell egg quality parameter as affected by egg size, washing and packaging treatments, and storage temperature

Medium, large and extra-large eggs from 33 week-old Hyline 77 Leghorn hens were used to evaluate effects of storage temperature and egg size. Large eggs from 48 week-old birds were used to evaluate the effects of washing and packaging on shelf-life and egg quality during storage at 20 and 30{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C. The effects of adjusted pH on functional properties and gel characteristics of egg albumen and liquid whole eggs were studied. The relationship among quality parameters was also studied.; Regardless of egg size, stuck yolk or mixed rot was observed at Day 30 at 25{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C and at Day 22 at 35{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C. However, edible eggs were observed at over 120 days when stored at 5 and 15{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C. In general, the quality of shell eggs were not affected by egg size, but by storage temperature between 15, 25 and 35{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C and was slightly affected between 5 and 15{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C during storage. Shelf-life of shell eggs was not affected by washing treatment when stored at 20{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C but was negatively affected when stored at 30{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C. The shelf-life and extended egg quality was observed in the following ascending order: oil coating, vacuum packaging, heat-sealed and CO{dollar}sb2{dollar} packaging. For all treatments, albumen height, Haugh unit, yolk index, and pH from quality parameters increased as storage time increased. Haugh unit was correlated with albumen height. Yolk index was also correlated with albumen height and Haugh unit during storage.; The bake volume of both albumen and liquid whole egg correlated more with foam stability than foaming capacity. Darker and firmer gels were observed as the storage period or pH increased for both albumen and liquid whole egg. The firmness, strain at failure and stress at failure and Hunter "L" values increased as pH or storage time increased for both albumen and liquid whole egg gels.