LAUSR

BACKGROUND Of the 18 043 bird species, the eggs of only hen and quail are generally available to consumers. Thus, people are deprived of the opportunity to be benefitted by the huge diversity of eggs offered by nature. Poultry eggs can vary in their color of albumen and yolk, smell, taste, and texture. In this study, we employed sighted and blind people for sensory evaluation with the aim of determining the preferences of consumers toward hard-boiled and scrambled eggs of different species of birds, and whether the appearance of these eggs has an effect on the perception of other sensory impressions. RESULTS Sighted people differently evaluated the texture of both boiled and scrambled eggs as compared to blind people. This was mainly because blind people largely used their sense of touch for evaluation. All the other attributes of boiled eggs were evaluated similarly by both groups of panelists, whereas those of scrambled eggs were evaluated differently. CONCLUSION The obtained results unequivocally demonstrated that finding differences in taste of scrambled eggs when served hot are easier to evaluate compared to boiled eggs. On the basis of ranking by the sensory panel, we established that eggs of birds belonging to Galliformes order are more preferred by consumers than those of duck and goose. By contrast, eggs of ostrich and emu are characterized by unfavorable sensory profile; moreover, the albumen of boiled ostrich eggs has an unsightly appearance. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.