Research Article

Changes of certain quality characteristics of Guinea fowl’s eggs depending on storage conditions

Dorota Banaszewska, Teresa Bombik, Anna Wereszczyńska, Barbara Biesiada-Drzazga, Krzysztof Kuśmierczyk

Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities

1. Acta Sci. Pol. Zootechnica, 14(2), 2015, 45‒54

Abstract. The aim of the present study was to assess the chosen quality characteristics of guinea fowl’s eggs as well as the influence of storage length and conditions on these features. The study material consisted of 50 grey guinea fowls kept in free range. The first study group consisted of eggs assessed as fresh ones two days after laying (10 eggs). The remaining 40 eggs were divided into two groups, 20 eggs in each. One of them was stored in a fridge at 6°C whilst the other was stored at a room temperature (24°C). The analysis was conducted on ten eggs from the two groups after 14 days and on the remaining ten eggs from each group after 28 days. The mean mass of the analysed eggs ranged from 42.10 to 43.11 g and the shape index ranged from 1.18 to 1.29. In the fresh eggs the shell constituted 15.63%, protein 51.66% and yolk 32.71% of the mass. During storage there were changes observed in morphological content: the yolk proportion increased and the egg white decreased. Also the eggs’ mass decreased significantly, whilst the air cell size increased. The length of the storage period and temperature conditions influenced certain characteristics of eggs’ components, including the area of dense white spread, an increase in yolk diameter and a decrease in its height.

Keywords: guinea fowl, eggs, storage