Quality Changes of N-3 PUFAs Enriched and Conventional Eggs under Different Home Storage Conditions with Wireless Sensor Network

• Published in: Applied sciences Vol. 7; no. 11; p. 1151
• Main Authors: Li, Wenkang, Zhang, Xiaoshuan, Jia, Yaxiong, Liu, Xue
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.11.2017
• Subjects: Albumen; Consumers; Deceleration; egg quality; Eggs; Enrichment; Freshness; Humidity; Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) enriched eggs; Quality; Refrigeration; Remote sensors; Storage; Storage conditions; Supply chains; temperature; Temperature effects; Wireless sensor network (WSN); Wireless sensor networks; Yolk
• ISSN: 2076-3417; 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app7111151

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) enriched eggs are popular for their enrichment of PUFAs, but their freshness and quality are prone to decline with time, particularly if storage conditions are not well maintained. Home storage is the last but a neglected important tach in eggs supply chain, but few studies are available on the egg storage in the home stage. This study aimed to evaluate the internal quality change of both n-3 PUFAs enriched and conventional eggs by simulating eggs stored at consumers’ home in refrigeration and under room temperature. The egg quality indices (Haugh unit, yolk index, weight, and albumen pH) were adopted and analyzed for both storage conditions. Wireless sensor network (WSN) was used for real-time monitoring of the temperature and humidity during storage. The results showed that temperature, humidity and time of storage all have an influence on the freshness of both n-3 PUFAs enriched and conventional eggs and there is no significant difference happened to n-3 PUFAs enriched eggs and conventional eggs. Refrigeration can decelerate the quality deterioration of both n-3 PUFAs enriched and conventional eggs and consumers should be educated about how to maintain the internal quality of eggs during home storage.