초록
난백의 높이와 하우유니트(HU)는 저장온도에 관계없이 저장기간이 경과할수록 감소되는 경향이 있었던 반면에 난백의 pH는 반대로 증가하는 경향이 있었다. 일반적으로 $3\;^{\circ}C$에서 저장되었던 계란들은 $10\;^{\circ}C$에서 저장된 계란들보다 HU는 더 높게 나타났던 반면에, 난백의 pH는 더 낮은 것으로 나타났다. 한편 통계적으로 유의한 차이는 아니었지만 무정란은 유정란에 비해서 저장온도에 관계없이 난백의 높이 및 HU는 더 높은 것으로 나타났고, $3\;^{\circ}C$에서 저장된 계란들의 난백의 pH는 무정란이 유정란보다 더 높았으나(P<0.05), $10\;^{\circ}C$에서 저장된 계란들의 경우는 유정란과 무정란간에 별 차이가 없었다. 난각강도는 유정란이 무정란보다 두 온도역 모두 유의하게(P<0.05) 더 컸었다. 그리고 암탉의 수정에 관계없이 난백의 높이와 pH는 부(-)의 상관관계(P<0.01~0.001)가 있었고, 난백의 높이와 HU는 정(+)의 상관관계(P<0.001)를 나타내었다. 이상의 결과를 종합해 보면, 난백의 높이 혹은 HU와 같은 계란의 신선도 변화에 있어서 상대적으로 암탉의 수정 유무보다는 저장기간과 저장온도가 더 중요한 요인인 것으로 사료되며, 일반적으로 저장온도가 낮을수록 HU는 증가되는 반면에 난백의 pH는 반대로 감소되는 것으로 보여진다.
A total of 1.200 eggs obtained from 312-day-old Hy-line Brown layer breeder hens and 319-day-old Hy-line Brown commercial layer hens (600 eggs obtained from each ones) were used to investigate the effects of storage period, storage temperature, and insemination of hens on the change of albumen height, Haugh unit (HU), albumen pH, shell strength, and yolk color. Eggs were stored up to 14 days after lay at $3\;^{\circ}C\;or\;10\;^{\circ}C$ and sampled one day after stored and then 24 hours interval. Longer periods of storage resulted in lower albumen height and HU at both storage temperatures, but in higher albumen pH. The eggs stored at $3\;^{\circ}C$ were generally higher in HU and lower in albumen pH than the ones stored at $10\;^{\circ}C$. There was no statistically difference although the eggs obtained from the non-inseminated-hens were slightly higher in albumen height and HU than the eggs obtained from the inseminated-hens. Whereas, the eggs obtained from the non-inseminated-hens in the albumen pH of eggs stored at $3\;^{\circ}C$ was significantly (P<0.05) higher than the ones obtained from the inseminated-hens, but the albumen pH of eggs stored at $10\;^{\circ}C$ did not differ each other. The mean shell strength of the eggs obtained from the inseminated-hens was significantly (P<0.05) stronger than that of the eggs obtained from the non-inseminated-hens at both storage temperatures. Albumen height and albumen pH were negatively correlated(P<0.01~0.001) in both inseminated and non-inseminated-hen's egg groups. The degree of yolk colors were not significantly changed overall of the experimental periods in both storage temperatures. The study suggests that the change of egg freshness such as albumen height and HU are relatively more associated with storage period and storage temperature than insemination or non-insemination of hens.