Metabolomics reveals stage-specific internal quality deterioration and distinct metabolic changes in egg albumen and yolk during storage

ABSTRACT:

Internal quality of chicken eggs deteriorates during storage, but the biochemical changes occurring in albumen and yolk over storage time remain insufficiently characterized. This study investigated changes in internal quality traits and specific metabolite profiles in albumen and yolk of chicken eggs at 25.0 to 25.5°C stored for 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days. A total of 216 eggs were used, including 116 eggs for internal quality measurements at 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days (n = 24, 22, 20, 23, and 27, respectively) and 100 eggs for metabolomic analysis (n = 20 per time point). Paired albumen and yolk samples were collected from each egg and subjected to untargeted liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) metabolomics. The results showed that albumen height and Haugh unit decreased markedly by day 7 and further declined by day 21, whereas yolk color changed mainly at day 21 and day 28. After data preprocessing and quality control (QC)-based filtering, 919 and 1104 annotated metabolites were retained in albumen and yolk, respectively. Based on multigroup comparisons across the five storage time points, 267 and 286 differential metabolites were identified in albumen and yolk, respectively. In albumen, deterioration at day 7 was associated with changes in nucleotide- and cofactor-related metabolites, including UMP, adenosine, NAD+, and FAD. By day 21, aggravated albumen deterioration was characterized by glycation- and nitrogen-related metabolites, including N-(1-deoxy-1-fructosyl)phenylalanine, N-(1-deoxy-1-fructosyl)tyrosine, pyroglutamic acid, and cadaverine. In yolk, deterioration at day 21 was mainly associated with lipid oxidation and membrane lipid remodeling, as indicated by changes in arachidonic acid, linoleic acid, 15-oxoETE, D-sphingosine, and sphinganine. These results indicate that albumen and yolk show distinct time-dependent metabolic changes during storage. The representative metabolites identified in this study may serve as candidate indicators for stage-specific evaluation of egg quality deterioration during storage.

INSTRUMENT(S): Liquid Chromatography MS - negative - reverse-phase, Liquid Chromatography MS - positive - reverse-phase

PROVIDER: MTBLS15068 | MetaboLights | 2026-07-17

REPOSITORIES: MetaboLights