Eggs of domestic poultry – a highly valuable food in human nutrition

Jaja su visokovrijedna namirnica, lako dostupna i zastupljena u prehrani ljudi širom svijeta. Zbog sadržaja esencijalnih masnih kiselina, vitamina, minerala, i posebno visoke energetske vrijednosti, jaja su dugo vremena smatrana namirnicom što izrazito pogoduje ljudskom zdravlju. Takvo, već opće prihvaćeno mišljenje, dovedeno je u sumnju kasnijim istraživanjima, što su u prvi plan stavljala negativne posljedice visokog sadržaja kolesterola u jajima. Ipak, novije spoznaje odbacuju stavove o jajima kao ‘’rizičnim’’ namirnicama, i upućuju na što raznovrsniju prehranu u kojoj jaja zadržavaju važno mjesto. Premda su jaja domaće peradi (kokoš, patka, guska, puran, prepelica) po sastavu gotovo ista, u svijetu je nesumnjivo najveća proizvodnja i potrošnja kokošjih jaja. Od ostalih vrsta jaja, značajna je proizvodnja pačjih (pogotovo u Kini), dok prepeličja jaja, iako oglašavana kao vrlo zdrava, ne bilježe veliku potrošnju. Potražnja za jajima određene vrste peradi i posebna organoleptička svojstva, rezultat su uvriježenih sklonosti tržišta, ali i gospodarske situacije na nekom prostoru.Eggs are a highly valuable food, easily available and present in the diet of people around the world. Regarding their contents of essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, and especially high energy value, eggs have long been considered to be highly favorable food for the human health. Later investigations have put this generally accepted opinion in doubt because of the high cholesterol concentration in eggs. However, the recent understandings discard attitudes toward eggs as the ‘’risk’’ food, and suggest more diver- sied diet in which eggs remain in an important place. Although the eggs from domestic poultry (chicken, duck, goose, turkey, quail) have almost the same composition, the production and consumption of chicken eggs is the largest in the world. Among other poultry species, the production of duck eggs is signicant (especially in China), while quail eggs, although advertised as very healthy, do not record high consumption. Demands for certain types of poultry eggs and specic organoleptic characteristics are the result of ingrai- ned tendencies of the market and also of the economic situation in some area