n-3 fatty acid enriched eggs and production of egg yolk powders: An increased risk of lipid oxidation?

Lipid oxidation is generally favoured by thermal processing and long-term storage. Oxidised lipids can alter nutritional and sensorial properties of foods. As eggs are widely used in food industries in dried powder form, our aim was to determine whether compositional or processing parameters have an impact on lipid oxidation from the shell eggs up to the dried powders and subsequent storage. Two batches of shell eggs were processed: one issued from hens fed with a standard diet and another receiving a diet enriched in extruded linseed, rich in linolenic acid. The extent of lipid oxidation was evaluated by quantification of conjugated dienes (CD) and malondialdehyde (MDA), but also by assessment of tocopherols, lutein and zeaxanthin losses. Results highlighted the remarkable oxidative stability of control and enriched yolk powders as revealed by a moderate increase of the quantities of CD and MDA, the lack of oxidised cholesterol and small loss of α-tocopherol.