Assessment of the shelf life of quail egg pickle

Abstract

An investigation was carried out at the Department of Poultry Science, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy to assess the shelf life of vinegar, oil based quail egg pickle with and without potassium sorbate. The quality characteristics of the product packed in HDPE pouches as influenced by the period of ambient storage was evaluated at monthly intervals. The mean weight of raw quail eggs used for pickling was 10.94 ± 0.02 g and that of cooked and peeled eggs was 9. 15 ± 0.06g. Therefore the cooking yield was found to be 83.63 ± 0.02 per cent. The product was stored for a period of 120 days and it was found that it was acceptable up to 90 days. The control and treatment groups were evaluated in terms of qualitative parameters namely pH, proximate composition, oxidative rancidity (TBARS number), total viable count of mesophilic bacteria, yeast and mould count and organoleptic qualities. It was observed that during the period of study, from the day of production to 90 days of storage, the pH of quail egg pickle increased significantly (P < 0.01) from 3.60 ± 0.01 to 4. 76 + 0.01 for the control group and 3.59 ± 0.01 to 4.73 ± 0.01 for the treatment group, respectively. Though there was no significant difference between the two groups, within the same period of storage, the proximate composition of the pickle was significantly (P < 0.01) affected irrespective of the treatments. There was a gradual but significant (P < 0.01) increase in 2_thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) number in both the groups, during storage. The treatment group showed statistically lower TBARS numbers at 60 and 90 days of storage, when compared to the control. The total viable count in both the groups increased significantly (P < 0.01) during storage but were well within the acceptable limit up to 90 days. There was no significant difference between the control and treatment groups, even though the treatment group had comparatively lower values throughout the storage period. The freshly prepared pickle did not have any yeast or mould population. There was a gradual and significant (P< 0.01) increase in the yeast and mould count with the progress in storage period, however, significantly (P< 0.05) lower counts were detected in the treatment group at 30, 60 and 90 days of storage. In the case of organoleptic evaluation, the mean panel scores for flavour were 5. 50, 5. 72, 5. 14 and 4. 83 respectively for the control group on zero, 30, 60 and 90 days of storage. The corresponding values for the treatment group were 5. 67, 6. 00, 5. 33 and 5.00, respectively. On working out the cost of production of pickle, it was found to be quite economical. The cost of kilogram of quail egg pickle was Rs. 74.39 and Rs. 74.72, respectively for the control and treatment groups. Henceforth it was concluded that nutritious, tasty and ready to eat quail egg pickle could be prepared with vinegar, gingelly oil and potassium sorbate, packed in HDPR pouches and stored safely for a period of 90 days at ambient temperature.