Glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel production, is non-toxic to humans and
the environment. With the current increase in the demand for fuels obtained from
biomass, the amount of glycerine waste production is increasing. There are many ways to
dispose this substance (in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and in chemical industry),
but its utilization is still insufficient. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess
the possibility of limiting quality changes in table eggs during
storage by coating the shells with a glycerol solution. The material used in this research consisted
of 270 table chicken eggs collected on the same day. On the first day of the
experiment, quality traits of 30 eggs were evaluated (initial control group). The
remaining 240 eggs were divided into two equal groups: control (eggs that
were not subjected to any treatment) and experimental (eggs that were coated with a
5 % aqueous solution of glycerol). The eggs were placed on transport
trays and stored at 14 °C and 70 % humidity. Quality
evaluations were carried out after 14 and 28 days of storage. The depth of the air cell,
mass and specific gravity of the egg, the shell characteristics (water vapour
conductance, strength, mass, thickness, and density), and the content traits (pH
of the albumen and yolk, Haugh units, and colour and weight of the yolk) were evaluated.
The results obtained suggest that the use of glycerine may contribute to
slowing adverse changes in egg quality during storage by limiting
CO2 removal from the egg content, which allows the egg to maintain albumen
structure. Due to the fact that glycerine is a safe, cheap, and easy-to-apply
substance, its large-scale use in poultry raw material storage seems to be a very real possibility.</p
