Comparative evaluation of qualitative, microbial and oxidative parameters of village and commercial egg in Semnan

Many‌ people prefer ‌village eggs because of their good taste, ‌bold yolk, and golden skin than commercial eggs, and some people are more interested in commercial eggs because of their production and expiration date codes, and the question always arises which one has a more desirable quality, so this research is aimed at comparing qualitative, microbial and oxidative parameters in the village and commercial eggs in Semnan. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 75 village and 75 commercial egg samples were collected by random sampling method from retail stores of Semnan and transferred to food hygiene laboratory under cold and sterile conditions to determine qualitative parameters (Haugh unit, egg weight, yolk index, pH, yolk color) and also microbial and oxidative parameters. Village eggs in qualitative parameters except for weight had higher rates compared to commercial eggs (P< 0.05) and in a* and L* color index there was no significant difference in the village and commercial samples. In terms of microbial and oxidative parameters, the comparison of averages showed that village eggs were significantly higher in the overall shell-level and internal egg mesophilic bacterial counts, as well as the village eggs, showed a higher amount of lipid peroxidation compared to commercial ones (P< 0.05). The findings of this study showed that village eggs accounted for more in terms of bacterial counts and the rate of oxidative breakdown, but due to yellow color index and viscosity, they are more marketable than commercial eggs.