INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, no.57, pp.6046-6054, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)
The efficacy of sonication with different powers (80,160 and 360 W) on fresh eggs for maintaining internal qualities such as pH, Haugh Unit (HU), yolk index (YI), relative-whipping-capacity (RWC), total solids, rheological behaviour and eggshell-strength were investigated during storage at room temperature. Differences in significant (p<0.05) on HU and YI were observed between control and sonicated eggs after 1 week. At 4 weeks of storage, the albumin pH of 160 W (9.40) and 360 W (9.39) sonicated eggs were considerably lower than that of 80 W (9.44) and control (9.54). At the conclusion of storage, the RWC of the 360 W (857), 160 W (847), and 80 W (835) was substantially greater than determined for non-sonicated (control) eggs (RWC=705). The lowest strength of eggshells (4.1 kgf) was determined when the highest sonication power was used (360 W) due to the effect of cavitation, which may cause micro-cracks that decreased the eggshell quality. Instead, the eggs sonicated at 80 or 160 W maintained the eggshell strength for at least 1 week of storage without any adverse impact. This study underlines that sonication, at the optimal power and treatment time, can be a viable non-thermal alternative method for enhancing the stability of eggs during storage.