With the aim of evaluating the quality of eggs of Japanese quail treated superficially, by immersion in mineral oil or propolis solution, simultaneous experiments were conducted in two environments, without refrigeration (Experiment 1) and with refrigeration (Experiment 2). For each experiment, were selected 360 intact eggs distributed in a completely randomized design in factorial 3 x 5 (untreated eggs; eggs immersed in propolis or eggs immersed in mineral oil, evaluated for five storage times: 7; 14; 21; 28 and 35 days), each treatment consisted of four replicates of six eggs each. The eggs had increased weight loss, decrease in specific gravity and growth the weight and the pH of the yolk, besides the reduced the pH of the albumen and their respective weight with advancing storage time in the absence of cooling (Experiment 1), whether treated or not in the shell. However, the surface treatment with mineral oil promoted protection against progressive loss of weight and decreased specific gravity, making them less intense with advancing the storage period without refrigeration. In the Experiment 2, the immersion of eggs in mineral oil promoted less weight loss, higher specific weight, greater weight of the yolk and the albumen during storage under refrigeration. The quality of quail eggs submitted of treatment superficial on shell by immersion in mineral oil is preserved for up to five weeks under different environments, with and without refrigeration.
Coturnix; mineral oil; propolis; weight loss