Measurement of internal quality in chicken eggs using visible transmittance spectroscopy technology

The potential of the ultraviolet and visible (UV/VIS 200–800 nm) transmittance method to inspect the internal quality (freshness) of intact chicken egg was investigated. The nondestructive measurement optical models for egg quality were also studied. Three hundred and fifty chicken egg samples were used for measuring its freshness and spectral collection during egg storage time. Two correlation models between Haugh unit and the storage time, the yolk coefficient and the storage time were developed with the correlation coefficients of 0.994, 0.987, respectively. A relationship between the intact egg transmittance and the storage time was also developed with the correlation coefficients of 0.935 at the sensitive spectral wavelength of 465 nm. It was concluded that: the nondestructive inspection of egg freshness by transmittance properties is feasible in the range of 400–600 nm, while it is impossible to inspect egg freshness in the range of 200–400 nm due to the low transmittance.