Development and shelf-life of egg waffles as influenced by packaging and storage

Egg waffles were formulated with blended liquid whole egg, wheat flour and granulated wheat at 60, 12.5 and 7.5 (blend I); 65, 10 and 5 (blend II); or 70, 7.5 and 2.5% (blend III) levels, respectively, incorporating other ingredients. Their physico-chemical, microbiological and sensory quality evaluated and shelf-life was determined at ambient (24±1°C) and refrigeration (4±1°C) temperatures in vacuum and aerobic packaging. Moisture, protein and ether extractives increased with increased level of liquid egg in the formulations, but difference were significant (P≤0.05) only for moisture and protein contents. Aerobic counts ranged from log 1.83 to 2.10 cfu/g with significant difference between blends. Yeast and mould counts were significantly (P≤0.05) lower in blend II than others, while coliforms and staphylococci were completely absent. Egg waffles from blend II had significantly highest ratings for all sensory attributes and were liked most. Storage studies showed progressive increases in TBA values, pH and aerobic counts with storage time during both ambient (24±1°C) and refrigerated (4±1°C) storage, but changes were slower in vacuum than in air packaging. The overall acceptability ratings declined with storage time irrespective of packaging and storage conditions but the vacuum packed waffles were consistently preferred over air-packed samples during storage. It may be concluded that egg waffles prepared with 65% liquid egg, 10% wheat flour and 5% granulated wheat, among other ingredients, were most acceptable and had an ambient and refrigerated shelf-life of 4 and 10 days in vacuum and 3 and 6 days in air packaging respectively with satisfactory orgaqnoleptic and microbiological quality.