Abstract
Important changes occur in egg during storage leading to loss of quality. Prediction of these changes is critical in order to monitor egg quality and freshness. The aim of this research was to evaluate application of visible (VIS) and near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy as a rapid and non-destructive technique for egg quality assessment. Three hundred and sixty intact white-shelled eggs freshly laid by the same flock of hens fed with a standard feed were obtained. They were put under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity (T = 18 °C and RH = 55%) for 16 days of storage. Forty eggs were analyzed at day 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16. Transmission spectral data was obtained in the range from 350 to 2,500 nm. The non-destructive spectral data was compared to egg sample’s Haugh unit (HU) and albumen pH in terms of quality and to the number of storage days in terms of freshness. A partial least squares predictive model was developed and used to link the destructive assessment methods and the number of storage days with the spectral data. The correlation coefficient between the measured and predicted values of HU, albumen pH, and number of storage days were up to 0.94, R 2 was up to 0.90 and the root mean square error values for the validation were 5.05, 0.06, and 1.65, respectively. These results showed that VIS/NIR transmission spectroscopy is a good tool for assessment of egg freshness and albumen pH and can be used as a non-destructive method for the prediction of HU, albumen pH, and number of storage days. In addition, the relevant information about these parameters was in the VIS and NIR ranging from 411 to 1,729 nm.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdel-Nour, N., Ngadi, M., Prasher, S., & Karimi, Y. (2009). Combined Maximum R2 and partial least squares method for wavelengths selection and analysis of spectroscopic data. International Journal of Poultry Science, 8(2), 170–178.
Berardinelli, A., Giunchi, A., Guarnieri, A., Pezzi, F., & Ragni, L. (2005). Shell egg albumen height assessment by FT-NIR Spectroscopy. Transactions of the ASAE, 48(4), 1423–1428.
Birth, G. S., Dull, G. G., Renfore, W. T., & Kays, S. J. (1985). Non-destructive spectrometric determination of dry matter in onions. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 110(2), 297–303.
Du, Y. P., Ljiang, Y. Z., Jiang, J. H., Berry, R. J., & Ozaki, Y. (2004). Spectral regions selection to improve prediction ability models by changeable size moving window partial least squares and searching combination moving window partial least squares. Analytica Chimica Acta, 501, 183–191.
Dutta, R., Hines, E. L., Gardner, J. W., Udrea, D. D., & Boilot, P. (2003). Non-destructive egg freshness determination: An electronic nose based approach. Measurement Science and Technology, 14, 190–198.
Fila, G., Bellochi, A., Acutis, M., & Donatelli, M. (2003). IRENE: A software to evaluate model performance. European Journal of Agronomy, 18, 269–372.
Gómez, A. H., He, Y., & Pereira, A. G. (2006). Non-destructive measurement of acidity, soluble solids and firmness of Satsuma mandarin using VIS/NIR-spectroscopy techniques. Journal of Food Engineering, 77, 313–319.
Haugh, R. R. (1937). The haugh unit for measuring egg quality. US Egg Poultry Magazine, 43, 552–555.
IRENE (2003) Integrated resources for evaluating numerical estimates. Ver. beta 1.00. Bologna, Italy.
Karoui, R., Kemps, B., Bamelis, F., De Katelaere, B., Decuypere, E., & De Baerdemaeker, J. (2006). Methods to evaluate egg freshness in research and industry: A review. European Food Research Technology, 222, 727–732.
Karoui, R., Nicolaï, B., & De Baerdemaeker, J. (2008). Monitoring the egg freshness during storage under modified atmosphere by fluorescence spectroscopy. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 1, 346–356.
Kemps, B. J., Bamelis, F., De Katelaere, B., Mertens, K., Tona, K., Decuypere, E. M., et al. (2006). Visible transmission spectroscopy for the assessment of egg freshness. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 86, 1399–1406.
Kemps, B. J., De Katelaere, B., Bamelis, F., Mertens, K., Tona, K., Decuypere, E. M., et al. (2007). Albumen freshness assessment by combining visible near-infrared transmission and low-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Journal of Poultry Science, 86, 752–759.
Lapao, C., Gamma, L. T., & Caveiro Soares, M. (1999). Effects of broiler breeder age and length of egg storage on albumen characteristics and hatchability. Journal of Poultry Science, 78, 640–645.
Liu, Y., Ying, Y., Ouyang, A., Ouyang, A., & Li, Y. (2007). Measurement of internal quality in chicken eggs using visible transmittance spectroscopy technology. Food Control, 18, 18–22.
McGlone, V. A., Jordan, R. B., & Martinson, P. J. (2002). Vis/NIR estimation at harvest of pre- and post-storage quality indices for ‘Royal Gala’ apple. Postharvest Biology and Technology., 25, 135–44.
Robinson, D. S., & Monsey, J. B. (1972). Changes in the composition of ovomucin during liquefaction of thick white. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 23, 29–38.
SAS (2003) SAS User’s guide: statistics. Ver. 8.2. Cary: SAS Institute, Inc.
Shao Y, Bao Y, & He Y (2009) Visible/near-infrared spectra for linear and nonlinear calibrations: a case to predict soluble solids contents and pH value in peach. Food and Bioprocess Technology, doi:10.1007/s11947-009-0227-6.
Slaughter, D. C., & Crisosto, C. H. (1998). Non-destructive internal quality assessment of kiwifruit using near-infrared spectroscopy. Seminars in Food Analysis, 3, 131–140.
Spiegelman, C. H., McShane, M. J., Goetz, M. J., Motamedi, M., Yue, Q. L., & Cote, G. L. (1998). Theorotical justification of wavelength selection in PLS calibration: Development of a new algorithm. Analytical Chemistry, 70, 35–44.
The Unscrambler (2007) The Unscrambler User’s Guide: ver. 9.7. Woodbridge: CAMO Software AS.
Wells, P. C., & Norris, K. H. (1987). Egg quality—current problem and recent advances. In B. M. Freeman (Ed.), Egg quality—current problems and recent advances. Abingdon: Carfax.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to appreciate the Poultry Industry of Canada for funding this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Abdel-Nour, N., Ngadi, M., Prasher, S. et al. Prediction of Egg Freshness and Albumen Quality Using Visible/Near Infrared Spectroscopy. Food Bioprocess Technol 4, 731–736 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-009-0265-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-009-0265-0