The pH and microbiological quality of refrigerated pasteurized whole eggs at 4ºC obtained from two types of raw materials, in nature (commercial) egg and the fertile egg were evaluated. The treatments were arranged in a completely randomized split plot design, the two types of pasteurized whole eggs (commercial and fertile) were alloted to the plots and four periods of storage under refrigeration (one, seven, 14 and 21 days) to the split plot. The presence of Salmonella spp. was not observed in the samples and the commercial pasteurized whole egg storage period did not contribute to the increase (P>0.05) in mesophilic aerobic coliforms at 35ºC, Staphylococcus spp and mold and yeast contamination. For samples of fertile pasteurized whole eggs, the storage period influenced the increased (P<0.05) count of mesophilic aerobic, coliforms at 35ºC, mold and yeast and Staphylococcus spp. The pH values rose during the first days of storage and then decreased again. It was concluded that fertile pasteurized whole eggs have lower quality than the commercial pasteurized whole eggs, and that the shelf life of these could be seven and 14 days, respectively.
refrigerated pasteurized whole egg; fertile egg; storage; microbiology; pH
