Heat Inactivation of Substances in Crude Cottonseed Oil Causing Pink Whites and Large Discolored Yolks in Stored Eggs

HENS fed rations containing crude cottonseed oil produce eggs that develop viscous pink whites and very large, fluid salmon colored or large thick brown yolks after six months or more of cold storage (Sherwood, 1928). Lorenz (1939) believed that the substance in crude cottonseed oil that causes “pink-white” egg discoloration is the same as the one that gives the Halphen reaction or something very closely related to it. The material giving the Halphen reaction is heat-labile (Shenstone and Vickery, 1956). The substance in crude cottonseed oil that causes “pink-white” egg discoloration is also heat-labile (Evans et al., 1957). Sterculic acid from Sterculia foetida oil and malvalic acid from certain species of Malva give the Halphen test and cause “pink-white” egg discoloration (Masson et al., 1957; Shenstone and Vickery, 1959). The purpose of the present experiment was to determine the amount of heat necessary to inactivate the “pink-white” causative substance in …