Change in rapid salting kinetics and characteristics of hen egg yolks

Abstract

A study of the dynamics of egg yolk salting clarified the diffusion of salt and the resulting changes in yolk quality and thereby provided guidance for better control of the final product. The effects of different salt contents in the salting solution (between 16 and 24%) on the mass transfer kinetics and egg yolk quality were analyzed during rapid salting. The results for the egg yolks showed that the changes in weight and water concentration decreased with increasing salt mass fraction, while the NaCl change increased. An increase in the salt content in the salting solution increased the effective diffusion coefficient ( D e ) of NaCl. Low-frequency nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) spectroscopy showed that higher salt content in the solution improved the amount of water transferred. The salted egg yolks treated in the 20–24% salting solutions had higher hardness, cohesiveness, oil yield and sandiness than those treated in other salting solutions. The samples salted in 16% solution had the highest values of the egg yolk index and CIELAB colorspace dimensions a* and b*. An analysis revealed statistically significant correlations between oil yield, sandiness, texture and color with D e . Taking oil yield and sandiness as the main indexes and comprehensively considering other sensory characteristics showed that 20% NaCl was the most suitable salt water solution for the rapid salting of hen egg yolks. ● The mass transfer and quality change of egg yolks increased with the salt content. ● The effective diffusion coefficient ( D e ) increased with salt content from 20 to 24%. ● T 23 , egg yolk index, springiness, cohesiveness, a* and b* decreased with salt content. ● T 22 , oil yield, sandiness, hardness, chewiness and L* increased with salt content. ● Oil yield, sandiness, texture and color were significantly correlated with the D e .