Effect of Oil and Lime Water Treatment and Storage on Some Quality Parameters of Quail Shell Eggs

Abstract

Sixteen (16) quail shell eggs were selected at random for initial quality determination (Haugh unit, moisture content and pH) from a total of one hundred and sixty (160) quail shell eggs. The remaining one hundred and forty-four (144) eggs were divided into four groups of thirty-six (36) eggs each. One of the groups had no treatment and it served as the control. The other three groups were treated with lime water, oil and a combination of oil and lime water respectively. The Haugh unit which is a major quality determinant in egg decreased with increase in storage time. The moisture content and pH increased with increase in storage time which is an indication of deterioration in quality of the eggs. The Haugh unit of untreated eggs decreased from 82.30 to 64.90, which was the least value of all the treatments, the yolk and the albumen could not separate on day 27 of the storage period. Oil + lime water treated eggs had the highest Haugh unit value (82.30 to 69.63), followed by the oil treated (82.30 to 68.59) and then the lime water treated (82.30 to 65.35). The result showed that the treatment of freshly laid quail eggs with oil and lime water retains its internal quality by reducing rate of quality decline.

Keywords: Shell coating, moisture content, pH.