Effects of irradiation sterilization on the characteristics of liquid egg white

To explore the changes of the characteristics of liquid egg white treated by irradiation and provide experimental basis for application of irradiation sterilization technology in liquid egg, changes of the pH value, color, viscosity, thermal denaturation, foamability and emulsibility of liquid egg white were examined. The results showed that the pH value of liquid egg white decreased as the radiation dose increased in the range of 0～3.0 kGy, but the decrease was not significant. The viscosity decreased significantly when the irradiation dose increased from 0 to 0.4 kGy, whereas changes in viscosity were not great when the irradiation dose was higher than 0.4 kGy. There was no change in color, when the egg white was irradiated. When the egg white was irradiated with a dose higher than 2.0 kGy, the color of protein colloid became brown, and the color deepened with the increase of radiation dose when the egg white was heated to solidification. Foamability of liquid egg white increased, but foam stability, emulsibility and emulsion stability of liquid egg white decreased with radiation dose increasing.