Determining the volume of air cells in hen egg during the storage time

In the study,an image processing method was developed to obtain dimensions of the egg and calculate the egg volume by using a formula suggested by narushin,the air cell height was determined by image processing method and measured manually by electronic caliper. The errors were less than %10 between the image processing method and manual measurement.The aim of this study was to predict quality parameters of eggs during different temperature and storage time. Egg samples were measured immediately after being laid and storage periods of 5, 10, 15 and 20 days at various temperatures 10, 25 and 30°C. Egg weight, specific gravity, loss of the weight, air cell height and volume were greatly influenced by storage time and temperature. Since during storage the eggs losing water and some organic compounds air room size is considered one of mainnondestructive measurement to estimate freshness. The air cell is between the outer membrane of the shell and the inner membrane to the albumen. In 20 days storage period air cell height was 4.17, 6.34, and 7.22mm when stored at 10, 25, or 30°C, respectively. When eggs were stored for 15 days at 25°C the volume of air cell exceeded 0.80 cm3. Likewise, the air cell volume during storage after 5 days was 0.42 cm3 increased to 1.82 cm3 after 20 days at 30°C. During 20 days of storage egg weight and specific gravity linearly decreased.