Effect of gamma radiation and cold storage on chemical and organoleptic properties and microbiological status of liquid egg white and yolk

This investigation aims to establish a feasible radiation dose for treating liquid egg white (LEW) and yolk (LEY) at room temperature to improve their microbial safety. Samples of LEW and LEY were subjected to gamma irradiation doses of 0,1,2,3 and 4 kGy at room temperature followed by storage at 4 +/- 1 degrees C. Then the effects of irradiation and cold storage on proximate composition, pH, soluble protein and free sulfhydryl content (SH) were determined for LEW and LEY in addition to the contents of total carotenoids in LEY. Moreover, free fatty acids (FFA) and peroxide value (PV) were determined for lipids of LEY. The microbial safety of LEW and LEY was established during storage throughout the enumeration of the total plate count, enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus aureus as well as the detection of Salmonella. The effects of irradiation at 3 kGy dose, which was enough for improving the microbial safety of samples, on amino acid composition of LEW and LEY and fatty acid profiles of LEY lipids were studied. In addition, sensory evaluation was carried out for liquid and scrambled egg white and egg yolk samples. The results showed that gamma irradiation and refrigerated storage had no significant effects on proximate composition and pH of liquid egg samples, while significantly decreased the contents of total carotenoids in LEY samples. Furthermore, gamma irradiation had no significant effects on protein solubility and the contents of free SH in LEW, while induced significant slight decreases in protein solubility and the contents of free SH in LEY. Cold storage, however, showed no significant effects on protein solubility and free SH in all liquid egg samples. FFA contents and PV of LEY lipids significantly increased post irradiation treatments and during storage, but the observed values were relatively low and acceptable. In addition, gamma irradiation at 3 kGy dose had no significant effects neither on the amino acid composition of LEW and LEY nor on fatty acid profiles of LEY lipids. The sensory preference did not alter neither for the liquid egg samples nor for scrambled egg samples that prepared from irradiated liquid egg products. Finally, gamma irradiation at 3 kGy dose appeared to be the optimum for treating LEW and LEY at room temperature followed by cold storage at 4 +/- 1 degrees C.