Relationships Between Shell Egg Handling Factors and Egg Product Properties 1. EGG WHITE DAMAGE AT MODERATE TO ELEVATED SHELL EGG

T T HAS been reported by several workers-•- that whites from shell eggs exposed to 70°F. and above for a few days to a few weeks yield angel food cakes with rela-tively poor volumes (Kahlenberg, 1948; Harns et al., 1953; Jordan et al., 1954; and Smith, 1959). Most recently, Smith (1959) has attributed this volume defi-ciency to diffusion of yolk lipids, in partic-ular triglycerides, into the white during the shell egg storage. He also contended this yolk lipid migration occurred under an environment promoting rapid evapora-tion, such as the combination of low hu-midity and high temperature. Saran coat-ing, which he employed as a means of minimizing evaporation, introduced an ad-ditional variable: lower pH of white dur-ing elevated temperature storage, which he discounted as a factor. The present report, while bearing out Smith's observation on yolk fat migration into the white, provides evidence against its contribution to the volume defect re-sulting from elevated temperature storage and furnishes evidence for a different mechanism involving protein alteration. MATERIALS AND METHODS Eggs were obtained on the morning of lay from a commercial strain of White Leghorn layers of the same hatch date