Functional and sensory properties of hen eggs with modified fatty acid compositions.

Foaming, emulsifying, gelling, and sensory properties of fresh and stored hen eggs fed with a diet supplemented with flax oil (FO), rapeseed oil (RO), fish oil (FISH), and by-product from black currant processing (BC) were investigated. With these diets, the ω6/ω3 fatty acid ratio of eggs varied from 1.5 to 5.8, while the ratio for eggs in the control group was 6.2. Compared to eggs in the control group, FO supplementation in the feed had statistically significant influences on the foaming properties of the fresh eggs. Eggs stored for 21 days lost part of their foaming properties in FISH oil supplemented group, but the foaming properties in all test groups were technically acceptable. The emulsifying properties of eggs in FO and FISH supplemented feeding groups were statistically different compared to control group. In boiled eggs, flax oil and fish oil supplementation induced off flavours in eggs, but no changes between the control group and test groups were found in the sensory properties of mayonnaise preparations. These results suggest that the egg processing industry may produce egg-based products using oil-supplemented eggs without major problems in functional or sensory properties.

Separation of ovomucin subunits by gel filtration: enhanced resolution of subunits by using a dual-column system.

An improved procedure involving a dual-column gel-filtration system for the separation of ovomucin subunits is described. Ovomucin, prepared from thick egg albumin by precipitation, was separated in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and beta-mercaptoethanol by using two Sephacryl S-400 HR gel-filtration columns connected in series. The separation resulted in the isolation of eight peaks. The amino acid compositions and SDS-polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoretic pattern of each peak were determined.