Efficacy of cassava starch blending with gelling agents and palm oil coating in improving egg shelf life

Abstract

© 2020 Institute of Food Science and Technology An egg coating was developed to preserve the internal quality of eggs by mixing cassava starch (CS), gelling agents and fatty acids. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) were used as gelling agents. Palm oil fatty acid (PO) was incorporated. Coated and non-coated eggs were evaluated over a period of 4 weeks at 28 °C by the yolk colour, weight loss, albumen pH and Haugh unit testing. The quality of non-coated eggs deteriorated from AA to B grade after 3 weeks, with values below the detection limit at 4 weeks. The optimum coating was 6/1/3 w/v% (CS/CMC/PO3). Contact angle, solubility and swelling in the water of the coating materials indicated the improvement of water resistance by addition of CMC and PO. Weight loss of the coated eggs was 4.9% lower than that of the non-coated eggs (6.5%) after 4 weeks. The CS/CMC/PO3 emulsion coating significantly extended egg shelf life due to the high compatibility and water resistance of CMC as well as the hydrophobic property of PO.