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The egg: a compartmentalized, aseptically packaged food

  • Chapter
Microbiology of the Avian Egg

Abstract

Of the many contributions of the female to the overall breeding success of her species, two are of particular relevance in the context of this chapter. First, she endows an egg with a large, dense (50% solids and 50% water) store of nutrients in the yolk and a reservoir of water, mainly in the albumen. Both are sufficient in amount to support embryogenesis and to sustain the chick for a short while after hatching. Second, she incubates the eggs and influences the colonization of the gut of a newly hatched chick with an appropriate flora.

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Authors
  1. R. G. Board
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  2. C. Clay
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  3. J. Lock
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  4. J. Dolman
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Bath, UK

    R. G. Board (Professor of Food Microbiology) (Professor of Food Microbiology)

  2. Reading, UK

    R. Fuller (Intestinal Microbiology Consultant) (Intestinal Microbiology Consultant)

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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Board, R.G., Clay, C., Lock, J., Dolman, J. (1994). The egg: a compartmentalized, aseptically packaged food. In: Board, R.G., Fuller, R. (eds) Microbiology of the Avian Egg. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3060-2_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3060-2_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6335-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-3060-2

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