Efficacy of cellulose-based coating on enhancing the shelf life of fresh eggs

Methylcellulose (2.00% w/v) and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (1.00% w/v) -based Coating Was formulated to Study the effects of polyethylene glycol-400 (PEG-400) and a stearic and palmitic acid blend (SPB) oil water vapour permeability (WVP) and tensile properties. The efficacy Of cellulose-based coating on fresh egg quality during 28-day storage at ambient temperature Was investigated in terms of weight loss, pH, and albumen quality. The selected formulation obtained by a response surface analysis was 1.00% w/v PEG-400 and 4.00% w/v SPB. An edible cellulose-based solution was prepared for eggshell coating. A batch of fresh, grade AA 1-day eggs was coated with Cell Ulose-based Coating solution. The other batch consisted of uncoated eggs, which served as the control. Lower weight loss (4.28%) was observed in the cellulose-based coated eggs, compared to 8.83% for the uncoated eggs. The pH in albumen of coated and uncoated eggs increased from 8.71 and 8.72 to 9.44 and 9.76, respectively, after 4 weeks of storage. For albumen quality, Haugh Units indicated that after 7 days, cellulose-based coated eggs changed from grade AA to grade A, and remained in grade A throughout the storage period: whereas after 5 days, uncoated eggs started to change from grade AA to grade A, and continually degraded to grade B during the 4 weeks of storage. This study highlights the promising Use of cellulose-based coating to enhance the shelf life of fresh eggs. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.