Transforming duck egg liquid albumen by-products into sustainable technology for artificially cured salted egg production

The increasing use of salted egg yolks (SEY) from salted duck eggs (SEs) in the food industry has drawn attention to the byproduct, liquid albumin (LA). This study addressed the high cholesterol in salted duck egg yolks by developing a plant-based low-cholesterol alternative using mung bean paste (MBP) for texture and pumpkin paste (PP) for color. Next, the optimal SEY (MBP-PP) will be combined with varying amounts of LA to produce ready-to-eat artificially cured SEs. Results show that MBP-PP achieved the best visual appearance, with no significant differences in color, yellowness index (YI), or particle size compared with the control. The 30 g artificially cured SEY (37.5% MBP-PP) mixed with 50 g LA formulation received the highest overall acceptance (5.82). Moreover, the control had higher caloric and nutrient values, but the 30:50 group showed significantly lower cholesterol (LC; 5.83 and 575.81 mg/100 g; p < 0.05). An artificially cured LC-SE formulation was developed using MBP-PP as the SEY and LA as a co-blend, supporting the circular bioeconomy. However, its visual appearance and texture require further optimization for use in simulated egg products and industrial-scale production.