Efficacy of cellulose-based coating on enhancing the shelf life of fresh eggs

Methylcellulose (2.00% w/v) and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (1.00% w/v) -based coating was formulated to study the effects of polyethylene glycol-400 (PEG-400) and a stearic and palmitic acid blend (SPB) on water vapour permeability (WVP) and tensile properties. The efficacy of cellulose-based coating on fresh egg quality during 28-day storage at ambient temperature was investigated in terms of weight loss, pH, and albumen quality. The selected formulation obtained by a response surface analysis was 1.00% w/v PEG-400 and 4.00% w/v SPB. An edible cellulose-based solution was prepared for eggshell coating. A batch of fresh, grade AA 1-day eggs was coated with cellulose-based coating solution. The other batch consisted of uncoated eggs, which served as the control. Lower weight loss (4.28%) was observed in the cellulose-based coated eggs, compared to 8.83% for the uncoated eggs. The pH in albumen of coated and uncoated eggs increased from 8.71 and 8.72 to 9.44 and 9.76, respectively, after 4 weeks of storage. For albumen quality, Haugh units indicated that after 7 days, cellulose-based coated eggs changed from grade AA to grade A, and remained in grade A throughout the storage period; whereas after 5 days, uncoated eggs started to change from grade AA to grade A, and continually degraded to grade B during the 4 weeks of storage. This study highlights the promising use of cellulose-based coating to enhance the shelf life of fresh eggs.