Effect of Ultra-sonication Treatment on the Quality Characteristics of Baked Eggs

The effect of ultra-sonication on quality characteristics and flavor of baked eggs was studied. One hundred and twenty eggs were cooked and assigned to six treatments groups (n=20 each) that were then soaked in saline solution at various concentrations (5, 10 and 18%) with/or without further ultra-sonication treatment at 35 kHz for 1 h. The pH values were lower in the ultra-sonicated samples in comparison with the non-ultra-sonicated samples (p<0.05). The values for texture traits were higher in the samples soaked in 10% saline solution with ultra-sonication in comparison with other remaining treatments or control (p<0.05). The sodium content in samples soaked in 10% saline solution with ultra-sonication was similar to that of the ones soaked in 18% saline solution without ultra-sonication. The higher flavor scores were also given for the ultra-sonicated samples in comparison with the control or non-ultra-sonicated ones. These results suggest that the application of ultra-sonication may produce a faster sodium penetration into baked eggs, simultaneously improves some textural traits (e.g., hardness) as well as flavor of the products.