Evolution of chemical and physical albumen characteristics during the storage of eggs

The aim of this paper was to study the evolution of furosine, pyroglutamic acid, and uridine and rheological characteristics of albumen from shell eggs stored over long times at 30, 20, and 5 °C. The chemical variables showed an increase in function of the storage temperature with more evident variations at room temperatures. At 5 °C, furosine increase was very low, while uridine presented a rapid increase after 150 days; pyroglutamic acid, instead, showed an even increase throughout the storage. The main decrease of viscosity happened during the first storage period; viscosity remained almost constant after 4, 6, and 36 days at 30, 20, and 5 °C, respectively. During the storage of eggs, a transition from pseudoplasticity to Newtonity was observed, while the aggregation temperature, evaluated through viscosity measurements, remained constant at 61−62 °C. Furosine, pyroglutamic acid, and uridine were generally well-correlated (P > 99%) between them, while the correlation with viscosity was lower.