Albumen freshness assessment by combining visible near-infrared transmission and low-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Recently, some nondestructive methods for the assessment of albumen freshness were developed. Among others, visible near-infrared transmission spectroscopy and low-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((LRH)-H-1 NMR) measurements were proposed. This study was performed to evaluate the potential of the combined measurement of visible near-infrared transmission spectroscopy and (LRH)-H-1 NMR measurements for the assessment of albumen freshness. Our results show that solely based on the transmission measurements, a good estimation of albumen freshness can be achieved. Based on (LRH)-H-1 NMR measurements, an estimation of albumen freshness can be achieved if larger egg collectives are used. However, when individual eggs are considered, only a moderate estimation is feasible. Finally, it was observed that combining both spectroscopic techniques did not improve the assessment of albumen freshness when compared solely to transmission measurements.