Evaluation of Egg Quality Traits in the Wholesale Market in Sri Lanka during the Storage Period

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the external and internal quality traits of eggs in wholesale egg market in Colombo, Sri Lanka and the effect of storage period in egg quality traits in the same market after receiving the eggs. First, a total of 482 fresh eggs were randomly collected from the above market and external egg quality traits were determined and recorded according to the definitions given in the Specification for Chicken Egg SLS 959:1992. After that, a total of 288 fresh eggs were randomly collected and various external and internal egg quality traits were measured and recorded according to the standard procedures over a storage period of 1, 3 and 5 d after receiving the fresh eggs to the wholesale market. Information about the shops was also collected using a pretested questionnaire. Using the recorded data, shape index, Haugh unit, albumen index and yolk index were calculated for each egg. Average weight, width, length and shape index of the eggs in the sample was 59.96 g, 4.33 cm, 5.78 cm and 75.03, respectively. Average shape index value was much closer to the standard value of 74. From the total sample 80.5% eggs had a normal and sound shape. However only 60.37% of the eggs are in the desirable quality range specified in SLS 959:1992, when the overall shell quality of the sample is considered based on shell cleanliness, defects and shape. The results of the current study indicated that eggs had significant (p<0.05) deterioration of all internal quality parameters tested with increasing storage time. However the effect was not significant (p>0.05) between the storage periods of 3 and 5 d after receiving eggs except for yolk color and yolk height. Desirable category of eggs had reduced and rejections had increased with the storage period. Main problems associated with the particular market were less space availability, higher percentages of dirty eggs, unavailability of proper packaging materials, no standard packaging system for eggs, and not implementing a standard grading system for eggs. Therefore the results of this study suggest that proper egg handling and storage conditions such as low temperature storage may be implemented to increase the proportion of desirable quality eggs in the above market.

Study of retail egg supply chain for quality in relation to level of sanitization andfarm of origin

“…The present study showed yolk indices of 29.23, 33.35, and 39.23 for sanitized, unsanitized, and backyard eggs, respectively, on the day of collection. The results of the present study are in agreement with the results of Jayasena et al [27], wherein eggs from a wholesale market were analyzed. Yolk index values for the indigenous Kadaknath poultry breed range between 35.07 and 38.10 [26].…”

“…The thickness of an eggshell depends on genotype and nutritional management of hens; most importantly, dietary manganese, zinc, and selenium influence eggshell thickness [24]. Shell thickness (in mm) observed in the present study for eggs obtained from backyard poultry was in agreement with the observations of Niranjan et al [25] for Vanaraja and Parmar et al [26] for Kadaknath breeds, and also for commercial table egg samples reported by Jayasena et al [27] and Hussain et al [24].…”

“…The mean HU of eggs derived from commercial farms was significantly lower (P ≤ 0.05) than that of backyard eggs. Good quality table eggs have higher HU values of over 70 [27] and the storage of eggs at room temperature (30 °C) for just one day can reduce HU by 10%. Higher HU is also positively associated with the albumen quality of the egg [31].…”

Comparison of Production Performance and Egg Quality Characteristics of Five Strains of Korean Native Chickens

“…Further, Hagan et al (2013) reported Haugh unit were significantly affected by the strain, which is in agreement with our current results. According to Jayasena et al (2012), eggs having Haugh unit value of 70 or above are considered as good quality eggs. Moreover, it was reported (Stadelman, 2002) higher Hugh unit values indicate better albumen quality.…”

“…Further calculations were performed with the collected measurements data, to analyze the respective quality parameters. Egg shape index (ESI) was calculated by the method described by Monira et al (2003) and Jayasena et al (2012). Egg shell density (ESD) was calculated based on egg weight and dry egg shell weight according to the Riley et al (2014).…”