Metabolomics reveals time-dependent internal quality changes and distinct metabolic patterns in egg albumen and yolk during storage
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Updated: Nov 1, 2026
Mechanical Separation and Protein Solubilization of the Outer and Inner Perivitelline Sublayers from Hen's Eggs
Published on: January 27, 2021
Haoqian Zhang1, Gang Zheng1, Junfeng Wu1
1Frontiers Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China; Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
Abstract:
Internal quality of chicken eggs changes during storage, but the corresponding biochemical changes in albumen and yolk remain insufficiently characterized. This study evaluated internal quality traits and metabolomic profiles of chicken eggs stored at 25.0 to 25.5 °C for 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days. A total of 216 eggs were included, comprising 116 eggs for measurements of egg weight, albumen height, Haugh unit, and yolk color (n = 24, 22, 20, 23, and 27, respectively) and an independent subset of 100 eggs for untargeted liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry metabolomics (n = 20 per time point). Paired albumen and yolk samples were collected from each egg used for metabolomic analysis. Day 7 was the earliest sampled time point at which albumen height and Haugh unit decreased significantly relative to day 0. By day 21, these traits had decreased further, accompanied by lower egg weight and more evident changes in yolk color. After data preprocessing and QC-based filtering, 919 and 1,104 annotated metabolites were retained in albumen and yolk, respectively. Using the combined criteria of VIP ≥ 1 and P < 0.05, 267 and 286 candidate differential metabolites were screened in albumen and yolk, respectively. In albumen, changes observed by day 7 mainly involved nucleotide- and cofactor-related metabolism, whereas changes by day 21 were characterized by more pronounced glycation-, amino acid-, sulfur-containing compound-, and biogenic amine-related alterations. In yolk, changes at day 21 mainly involved unsaturated fatty acids, lipid oxidation-related metabolites, and sphingolipid-related compounds. Pathway analysis further indicated distinct metabolic responses in albumen and yolk. These findings demonstrate distinct time-dependent metabolic responses in albumen and yolk during egg storage and provide a biochemical basis for interpreting storage-related changes in internal egg quality.
