ABSTRACT
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
II. Selection of Raw Materials for the Processing of Frozen Eggs and Egg Products . . 503
A. Before Breaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
B. After Breaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
1. Albumen Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
2. Yolk Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
III. Pretreatment before Freezing to Minimize Product Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
A. Microbial Aspects: Pasteurization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
B. Rheological Aspects: Minimizing Gelation Reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
1. Addition of Cryoprotectant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510
2. Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
IV. Freezing and Packaging of Egg Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
V. Quality of Frozen Eggs and Frozen Egg-Related Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
A. Microbial Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
B. Functional Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
C. Product Performance Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
VI. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
Nomenclature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
Eggs are widely used in the preparation of various processed foods because of their versatile func-
tions such as foaming properties, heat-induced gelation of egg albumen, emulsifying properties of
egg yolk, and so on. To extend the shelf life of liquid eggs, they are commonly pasteurized, dehy-
drated, or frozen. The adequacy of performing functionalities of eggs after pasteurization, dehy-
dration, or freezing determines the value of eggs in food products. In this chapter, issues related
to improving functional performance of eggs after pasteurization and freezing would be reviewed.
Generally, top quality frozen egg products should be prepared with appropriately stored fresh shell
eggs with low bacteria count, followed by breaking operations with strict sanitation, temperature
control, and rapid freezing operations, together with application of cryoprotectants.
