A Comprehensive Study of Chicken Eggs Quality in Short- and Long-Term Storage Under Different Temperatures

There is a lack of regulations worldwide regarding the storage conditions for commercial chicken table eggs. This study was focused on the short (STS-24 days)- and long (LTS-15 weeks) term storage of eggs (n = 1500) at three temperatures (10 °C, 21 °C and 35 °C) conducting a comprehensive physical and quality evaluation based on weight loss, Haugh unit (HU), yolk index (YI), eggshell strength, albumen and yolk pH, yolk color, and albumen absorbance. A zero-order kinetics equation was fitted to the data presenting quality decay, and the half-life time (t_1/2) and decimal reduction time value (D) were calculated. Results showed a strong effect of temperature (35 °C) on quality degradation during STS, mainly in weight loss, HU, YI, yolk color, and absorbance. Refrigeration was able to maintain the quality through the STS and resulted in minor changes during LTS. The net change of color (ΔE) and chroma (C) of yolk at 35 °C showed significant changes (p ≤ 0.05) at the end of STS. The evaluation of t_1/2 showed that eggs stored at 35 °C required <2 days to change quality parameters. The positive effect of refrigeration has been demonstrated in the overall quality of eggs; these results can be used as a starting point to create new guidelines in countries without any regulations for egg storage.