Functional Properties of Japanese Quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) Eggs Proteins

The eggs of the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) are the most consumed, but those of duck, goose, and quail are also consumed, to name a few. An egg is considered as a food rich in proteins, minerals, and lipids. Eggs generally consist of three main components: shell, white, and yolk, these have several functional properties that are used in food and other industries. The functional properties of the egg white and yolk are the ability of foaming, gelling, and emulsifying, which can be dealt with according to storage time. The objective of this work was to evaluate the functional properties of the components of the Japanese quail egg. The functional properties of eggs stored at room temperature for 1, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 days after laying were determined. Results are analyzed using a Tukey paired comparison test. The volume of the foam of the quail egg white did not change with storage time, the emulsion capacity was 193.8 mL of oil per gram of protein from the yolk. The coagulation capacity requires a lower temperature to coagulate the quail egg proteins, due to the slower transformation of ovalbumin to its thermo-stable form (S-ovalbumin) as compared to that of chicken.