Application of chitosan for improvement of quality and shelf life of table eggs under tropical room conditions.

The current investigation was conducted to study the effectiveness of chitosan coating in preserving the internal quality of table eggs stored under tropical room conditions of 32 ± 1 °C and 60-70 % r. h. Internal, physical and microbiological quality of eggs coated with chitosan was evaluated during 5-week storage at different temperature (22 ± 1 and 32 ± 1 °C). Chitin was extracted from shrimp processing raw byproducts and deacetylated to high quality chitosan. The prepared chitosan was analyzed for its characteristic properties. The chitosan with a viscosity of 2206 mPa.S was used to prepare the coating solution. The weight loss, Haugh unit, and yolk index values suggested that coating of eggs with shrimp α-chitosan increased the shelf life of eggs by almost 4-week at 22 ± 1 °C and 3-week at 32 ± 1 °C compared with controls (non chitosan coated and acetic acid coated) eggs. Three-time repeated coating was more effective in preserving the internal quality and preventing weight loss than with single-time coating of chitosan on egg. Therefore, three-time coating of eggs with 2206 mPa.S chitosan offer a protective barrier for preserving the internal quality of eggs stored at tropical room conditions and concomitantly prevent contamination with microorganisms.