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Density, heat capacity and thermal conductivity of liquid egg products

Article  in  Journal of Food Engineering · May 2006

DOI: 10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2005.01.043

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 Journal of Food Engineering 74 (2006) 186–190
www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Density, heat capacity and thermal conductivity of liquid

egg products
a,*
Jane S.R. Coimbra , Ana L. Gabas b, Luis A. Minim a, Edwin E. Garcia Rojas a,
Vânia R.N. Telis c, Javier Telis-Romero c
a
UFV—Federal University of Viçosa, Campus Universitario, Department of Food Technology, LPS, Zip Code 36571-000 Viçosa, MG, Brazil
b
USP—University of São Paulo, FZEA, Department of Food Engineering, P.O. Box 23, Zip Code 13635-900, Pirassununga, SP, Brazil
c
UNESP—São Paulo State University, Department of Food Engineering and Technology, Zip Code 15054-000, São José do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil

Received 2 December 2002; received in revised form 13 November 2004; accepted 3 January 2005
Available online 23 May 2005

Abstract

Density, heat capacity and thermal conductivity of liquid egg products, such as egg white, egg yolk, whole egg and various white
and yolk blends, were determined as affected by temperature and water content ranging from 273 to 311 K and 51.8 to 88.2% (mass),
respectively. Polynomial models fitted the experimental data very well, showing a linear relationship both for temperature and water
content.
Ó 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction ingredients in food formulations or food services.

Approximately 30 % of all eggs sold in USA in 2001
Egg (Gallus domesticus) is a rich and well-balanced were processed (American Egg Board, 2002), requir-
source of essential nutrients for human diet composed ing shell cleaning and removal, filtering, blending, pas-
by fatty acids, iron, phosphorus, trace minerals, vita- teurization and freezing or dehydration (ASHRAE,
mins A, B6, B12, D, E, and K, and proteins of high bio- 1994).
logical value (Stadelman & Cotterill, 1995). It is one of Understanding the thermophysical properties (TPP)
the most consumed foods worldwide, being an impor- of liquid egg products over a wide range of temperature
tant commodity in international trade. Brazil ranks the and water content is of utmost importance to the egg-
eighth position among the egg-producing countries, with products industry since thermal treatment is applied in
an expected egg production for October 2002 of 1.327 the processing plants. For instance, the main function
billion (Stadelman & Cotterill, 1995; Aves e ovos, of pasteurization is to destroy Salmonella but it should
2002). Egg production in the USA during August 2002 be observed that egg whites are more sensitive to higher
was 7.35 billion (American Egg Board, 2002). Thus temperatures than whole eggs or yolk, and can coagu-
the egg industry is an expressive segment of the food late due to temperature rise (ASHRAE, 1994).
market, with a large supply of egg derivatives, such as Density (q), heat capacity (Cp), thermal conductivity
dried-, frozen- and liquid egg-products being used as (j) and thermal diffusivity are the major TPP required
for evaluating, designing and modeling heat transfer
processes, such as refrigeration, freezing, heating or
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 31 3899 1618; fax: +55 31 3899
drying.
2208. According to Becker and Fricke (1999) and McMinn
E-mail address: [email protected] (J.S.R. Coimbra). and Magee (1998), empirical models applied to predict

0260-8774/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2005.01.043
 J.S.R. Coimbra et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 74 (2006) 186–190 187

TPP of foods are effective in contrast to models derived 2.2. Apparatus and procedure
from theoretical bases. Since chemical composition and
temperature can strongly affect TPP of foods, these vari- Liquid egg products density was determined by
ables are commonly taken into account to develop the applying the picnometric method (Constenla et al.,
above mentioned mathematical functions (Becker & 1989), in triplicate. The sample kept in a 25 ml standard
Fricke, 1999; McMinn & Magee, 1998; Suk & Santi, volumetric pycnometer was weighed using an analytical
1997; Nesvadba & Eunson, 1984; Minim, Coimbra, balance with a give uncertainty of ±0.0001 g (Mettler
Minim, & Telis-Romero, 2002). AB204, NY, USA). The pycnometer was previously cal-
TPP studies have been reported for several liquid ibrated with distilled water at each temperature studied.
foods, such as juices (Choi & Okos, 1983; Constenla, Both heat capacity and thermal conductivity were
Lozano, & Crapiste, 1989; Telis-Romero, Telis, Gabas, determined using an equipment composed by a water
& Yamashita, 1998), yogurt (Suk & Santi, 1997), milk thermostatic bath with a stability of ±0.05% (Marconi
(Minim et al., 2002; Reddy & Datta, 1994), and coffee MA-184, São Paulo, Brazil) and a cylindrical cell, with
extract (Telis-Romero, Gabas, Polizelli, & Telis, 2000). the liquid being tested filling the annular space between
However, TPP data for liquid egg products are very two concentric cylinders. The cell was immersed in the
scarce in the literature. Therefore, this paper presents thermostatic bath and cell calibration was performed
experimental values of q, Cp and j for liquid egg prod- using distilled water and glycerin. Details of this meth-
ucts covering an extensive range of temperature and od, cell calibration and experimental tests can be found
water content, and also a simplified empirical correla- elsewhere (Minim et al., 2002; Telis-Romero et al., 2000;
tion developed to predict these properties, easy to use Telis-Romero et al., 1998; Bellet, Sangelin, & Thirriot,
in computational calculus. 1975; Dickerson, 1965). The power input to the heater
resistance was supplied by a laboratory DC power (Min-
ipa MPS-3006D, São Paulo, Brazil), allowing to adjust
2. Experimental section the current with a stability of 0.05%. An HP data logger
model 75.000-B with an HP–IB interface and an HP PC
2.1. Materials running a data acquisition program written in IBASIC
monitored the temperatures with an accuracy of 0.6 K.
Under aseptic conditions, samples of white egg, Heat capacity was measured under unsteady state
yolk, and blends of white and yolk were prepared conditions and thermal conductivity under steady state
and quantified using fresh shell eggs less than 24 h of conditions (Minim et al., 2002; Telis-Romero et al.,
lay, purchased from a local ranch (Marı́lia, São Paulo, 2000; Telis-Romero et al., 1998).
Brazil). They were hand broken and the white carefully
separated from the yolk. White and yolk blends were
prepared using an analytical balance with a give uncer- 3. Results and discussion
tainty of ±0.0001 g (Mettler AB204, NY, USA) and
weighing parts of white and yolk in the proportions Tables 2–4 showed the experimental data for q, Cp
shown in Table 1. The mixture was stirred very slowly, and j of liquid egg products respectively, at tempera-
at room temperature, for 3 min to reduce incorporation tures varying from 273 to 311 K and water concentra-
of air bubble and degassed in a centrifuge (Phoenix, tions from 51.8 to 88.2% (mass). The thermophysical
São Paulo, Brazil). The water content of the liquid properties of liquid egg products were measured in trip-
egg products were varied in the range of 51.8 to licate for each value of temperature and water content.
88.2% (mass) by blending white and yolk in different The highest observed standard deviation values were
proportions. 0.221 kg/m3, 0.012 J/g K and 0.003 W/m K for density,
Statistical analyses were performed using the GLM specific heat and thermal conductivity, respectively.
procedure while fitted functions were obtained by the The TPP values were correlated using a linear poly-
REG procedure from the SAS statistical package (SAS nomial model represented by Eq. 1. According to Fikin
institute Inc., 1999). The suitability of the models was and Fikin (1999), the influence of the different solid
evaluated by using the coefficient of determination components of foods on TPP is usually negligible and
(R2), level of significance (p), and residual analysis. the food material can be seen as a system formed by only
two components, water and solids. Our results confirm
the suitability of this assumption.
Table 1
Compositions of egg white and yolk blends P ¼ a þ bT þ cW w ð1Þ
White (%) 100 80 60 40 20 0 where P is the thermophysical property, T is the temper-
Yolk (%) 0 20 40 60 80 100 ature (K) and Ww is the water content in mass fraction.
Water (%) 88.2 80.9 73.6 66.4 59.1 51.8
The values of the fitted constants a, b and c for each
188 J.S.R. Coimbra et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 74 (2006) 186–190

Table 2
Density (q, kg m
3) of liquid egg products
Ww Temperature (K)
273 275 278 281 285 291 295 298 301 307 311
0.518 1143.5 1135.7 1138.3 1134.3 1134.3 1127.4 1138.9 1131.0 1135.0 1131.2 1126.1
0.591 1103.5 1103.2 1107.3 1111.4 1106.3 1114.4 1104.9 1109.0 1113.0 1112.1 1111.6
0.664 1087.2 1088.4 1092.3 1087.5 1095.7 1086.2 1090.0 1093.9 1093.5 1092.6 1087.7
0.736 1071.2 1070.9 1069.1 1071.5 1072.4 1071.5 1069.6 1067.7 1067.3 1066.5 1065.9
0.809 1049.0 1053.0 1060.9 1052.1 1055.8 1050.7 1050.2 1046.9 1050.7 1047.1 1047.9
0.882 1032.4 1032.1 1023.4 1023.0 1026.6 1029.9 1025.2 1033.0 1024.4 1027.7 1031.2

Table 3
Heat capacity (Cp, J g
1 K
1) of liquid egg products
Ww Temperature (K)
273 275 278 281 285 291 295 298 301 307 311
0.518 2.575 2.612 2.718 2.614 2.621 2.664 2.714 2.679 2.739 2.732 2.772
0.591 2.786 2.779 2.913 2.798 2.801 2.841 2.890 2.850 2.910 2.895 2.934
0.664 2.962 2.987 2.964 3.005 2.994 3.024 3.058 3.035 3.076 3.071 3.099
0.736 3.165 3.163 3.184 3.176 3.202 3.204 3.229 3.214 3.244 3.242 3.263
0.809 3.346 3.364 3.345 3.374 3.363 3.382 3.404 3.385 3.414 3.407 3.425
0.882 3.551 3.539 3.665 3.539 3.530 3.552 3.588 3.539 3.590 3.557 3.584

Table 4
Thermal conductivity (kW m
1 K
1) of liquid egg products
Ww Temperature (K)
273 275 278 281 285 291 295 298 301 307 311
0.518 0.407 0.403 0.403 0.400 0.399 0.397 0.396 0.393 0.393 0.390 0.389
0.591 0.433 0.435 0.433 0.430 0.429 0.428 0.428 0.424 0.426 0.421 0.421
0.664 0.481 0.464 0.467 0.459 0.459 0.458 0.461 0.453 0.459 0.452 0.453
0.736 0.493 0.498 0.493 0.494 0.491 0.490 0.493 0.486 0.490 0.485 0.486
0.809 0.541 0.526 0.529 0.522 0.522 0.522 0.525 0.518 0.522 0.517 0.518
0.882 0.554 0.560 0.555 0.552 0.551 0.552 0.558 0.547 0.555 0.547 0.550

property were determined by regression, as shown in of linear decrease of q (Table 2) was observed with the
Table 5. All fitted functions presented R2 values higher rise of both temperature and egg white fraction in the
than 0.98 and p lower than 0.0001. The good agreement blends, and consequently of Ww. Changes in the vari-
between calculated and experimental values is shown in ables studied may influence q due to the specific volume
Figs. 1–3, with the residual analysis for q, Cp and j of the multicomponent solution as well as due to the
(R2 > 0.98 for all cases). Scarce values of q for whole solid concentration of mixtures which are directly
egg (1080.0 kg m
3), white (1035.0 kg m
3) and yolk affected by them (Constenla et al., 1989).
(1035.0 kg m
3), and of Cp for whole egg Data of Cp (Table 3) and j (Table 4) showed a ten-
(3.23 kJ kg
1 K
1) were found in the literature (ASH- dency of linear decrease with the increase of both
RAE, 1994). temperature and egg yolk fraction—and consequently
The TPP show a marked influence of Ww on q,Cp and of Ww—in the blends. Other researchers observed simi-
j, as compared with the temperature effect. A tendency lar influence of temperature and concentration on

Table 5
Coefficients of equation 1
P a b c R2

3
q/kg m 1295.72 ± 7.5361
0.0559 ± 0.0242
284.43 ± 2.533 0.988
Cp/J g
1 K
1 0.668 ± 0.0792 0.0025 ± 0.0001 2.4429 ± 0.0268 0.989
j/W m
1 K
1 0.276 ± 0.0078
0.0004 ± 0.0001 0.4302 ± 0.0024 0.996
 J.S.R. Coimbra et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 74 (2006) 186–190 189

1160 thermophysical properties of fluid foods, such as apple

juice (Constenla et al., 1989), milk (Reddy & Datta,
1140 1994; Minim et al., 2002), coffee extract (Telis-Romero
et al., 2000), concentrated orange juice (Telis-Romero
1120 et al., 1998), peach and orange juice; apple and quince
purees (Ramos & Ibarz, 1998).
ρ (kg.m-3)

1100

1080 4. Conclusions

1060 Density, heat capacity and thermal conductivity of

liquid egg products varied from (1023.0 to 1143.5)
1040 kg m
3, (2.6 to 3.7) J g
1 K
1 and (0.4 to 0.6) W m
1 K
1
for pure yolk to pure white, respectively, at temperatures
1040 1060 1080 1100 1120 1140
ranging from (273 to 311) K and water concentrations
ρcal (kg.m-3) from 51.8 to 88.2% (mass). The latter had a very strong
influence on all the thermophysical properties of liquid
Fig. 1. Density: observed versus correlated values (R2 = 0.984).
egg products. A simple correlation to predict q, Cp
and j as a function of temperature and water content
3.80 was developed. The polynomial function was success-
fully fitted to the experimental data, thus TPP estima-
3.60 tion was recommended for liquid egg products in the
studied range.
3.40
Cp (J.g-1.K-1)

3.20 Acknowledgement

3.00 The authors wish to thank CNPq (521168/96-1) and

FAPEMIG for financial support.
2.80

2.60 References
2.60 2.80 3.00 3.20 3.40 3.60
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