Effects of chitosan coating and storage position on quality and shelf life of eggs

Effects of chitosan coating and storage positions (small-end down, small-end up or horizontal) on internal quality and shelf life of eggs were evaluated during 5 weeks of storage at 25 degrees C. Compared with noncoated eggs, all chitosan-coated eggs, irrespective of storage positions, had significantly lesser weight loss, higher Haugh units and higher yolk index throughout the storage. Chitosan coating, irrespective of storage positions, extended the egg shelf life by at least 3 weeks at 25 degrees C compared with noncoated eggs. Noncoated and chitosan-coated eggs placed small-end down tentatively showed better quality than eggs placed small-end up after 3 and 4 weeks of storage. After 5 weeks of storage, storage positions did not significantly affect quality of noncoated and chitosan-coated eggs. There were no notable differences in total amino acid content of the albumen and fatty acid composition of the yolk between noncoated and chitosan-coated eggs after 5 weeks of storage.