| Popis: |
Poultry production is a fast growing industry and has become a dependable source of obtaining income for many farmers. There is therefore a growing need for technologies to preserve poultry products, in this case eggs, to prevent or reduce post-harvest losses. The aim of this present study is to evaluate the effect of storage method and duration on internal and external egg quality traits of eggs stored under three different storage conditions. A total of 190 eggs (from Isa brown breed hens aged 51 weeks) were used for the analysis. The storage methods to which the eggs were subjected included; 1) Cold Storage (M1), 2) Saw dust (M2) and 3) Control (M3) at a temperature range of 26°C- 32°C.The eggs were stored for 15 days, while the readings were taken at three day intervals. Albumen height, haugh unit, yolk index and egg weight have been found to be important parameters influenced by storage method and storage duration. Cold storage had the highest value for albumen height, haugh unit, yolk index and egg weight, while eggs stored under sawdust had no significant difference from those under control. Duration however had a deteriorating effect on important egg quality traits form D3 to D15 as could be observed in Albumen weight (41.14 to 36.37), Haugh unit (73.0 to 55.1), Yolk Index (36.99 to 26.61) and Egg weight (61.85 to 56.76). Thus, lower egg quality was recorded as storage time increased. Results from the first microbial analysis (freshly laid eggs) showed that no organism was isolated. Coliform bacteria, mold and yeast were isolated from eggs stored using cold storage and control conditions respectively. This study showed that eggs stored under cold storage retained both internal and external quality traits for longer time than those stored under sawdust and control, after the eggs had been stored for 15 days. |
