Department of Food Science, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy.
Poult Sci. 2011 Aug;90(8):1791-8. doi: 10.3382/ps.2010-01219.
The aim of this study was to compare technological properties (gel hardness, foam drainage, and meringue crispness) of albumen of nonpacked table eggs (control) with those of eggs packed in high-barrier plastic pouches with 3 modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) conditions (air, 100% N(2), and 100% CO(2)) during 28 d of storage at 25°C. The values of gel hardness for the control sample showed an increasing trend, demonstrating the highest values throughout the experiment duration compared with the other samples. This behavior was probably attributable to the pH increase detected only for this sample during storage (from 8.82 ± 0.06 for fresh egg to 9.96 ± 0.06 at the end of the experiment). Air and N(2) samples showed constant and similar hardness values during storage. The hardness of coagulated albumen showed a strict correlation with raw albumen pH (r(2) = 0.929; P < 0.001). Other than reducing albumen pH during storage, MAP with CO(2) caused the formation of a soft and puffy coagulum with very low hardness, reaching the lowest value of 1.26 ± 0.38 N after 4 d of storage, that slowly increased to 2.11 ± 0.49 N at the end of the experiment. Foam stability decreased during storage for all samples, but CO(2) eggs showed a significantly (P < 0.05) higher foam stability than fresh eggs until 15 d, reaching values similar to those of the other samples only at the end of the storage time. Packing eggs in CO(2) promoted an improvement of meringue crispness. The application of this atmosphere could ameliorate the quality characteristics of albumen-based food products. Commercially, CO(2) MAP could provide an albumen-based ingredient tailored to maximize the characteristics needed in the final product (e.g., fresh shell eggs special for meringue preparation) that could give an added value to the product.
本研究旨在比较未经包装的普通鸡蛋（对照）与经高阻隔塑料袋包装并采用 3 种不同气调包装（MAP）条件（空气、100%N2 和 100%CO2）贮藏 25°C 下 28 天的鸡蛋的蛋清的技术特性（凝胶硬度、泡沫排水和蛋白酥皮脆度）。对照样品的凝胶硬度值呈上升趋势，在整个实验过程中均高于其他样品，这可能归因于仅在该样品中检测到的贮藏过程中的 pH 值升高（从新鲜鸡蛋的 8.82±0.06 增加到实验结束时的 9.96±0.06）。空气和 N2 样品在贮藏过程中硬度值保持恒定且相似。凝固蛋清的硬度与原始蛋清 pH 值呈严格的相关性（r2=0.929；P<0.001）。除了在贮藏过程中降低蛋清 pH 值外，CO2 MAP 还会导致形成柔软蓬松的凝结物，硬度非常低，在贮藏 4 天后达到 1.26±0.38 N 的最低值，然后缓慢增加到实验结束时的 2.11±0.49 N。所有样品的泡沫稳定性在贮藏过程中均降低，但 CO2 鸡蛋的泡沫稳定性在 15 天内均显著（P<0.05）高于新鲜鸡蛋，仅在贮藏时间结束时才达到与其他样品相似的值。用 CO2 包装鸡蛋可提高蛋白酥皮的脆性。应用这种气氛可以改善基于蛋清的食品产品的质量特性。在商业上，CO2 MAP 可以提供一种适合于最大限度地发挥最终产品所需特性的蛋清原料（例如，特别用于蛋白酥皮制备的新鲜壳蛋），从而为产品增加附加值。
