Effects of mineral oil coating on internal quality of chicken eggs under refrigerated storage

Summary The selected internal qualities (weight loss, Haugh unit, yolk index, and albumen pH) of noncoated and mineral oil‐coated chicken eggs during 15 weeks of storage at 4 °C and/or during 5 weeks of storage at 25 °C were evaluated. Results indicated that, without refrigeration, the noncoated and mineral oil‐coated eggs rapidly changed from AA to C and B grades as measured by Haugh unit, respectively, after 5 weeks of storage. However, the AA quality of the noncoated eggs could be maintained under refrigerated storage (4 °C) for at least 5 weeks. The mineral oil coating and refrigerated storage (4 °C) synergistically minimised weight loss and preserved the albumen and yolk qualities of chicken eggs during a long‐term storage. At 4 °C, the mineral oil‐coated eggs preserved the initial AA grade for at least 15 weeks with l.19% weight loss.