EGG QUALITY BY COLORATION IN CREOLE HENS IN THE MUNICIPAL MARKETS OF THE PASTAZA CANTON, ECUADOR

The purpose of this research was to carry out a retrospective analysis of the external and internal egg quality and its relationship with coloration, in the municipal markets of the Pastaza canton. The results of 247 creole eggs were analyzed, to which the indicators were measured: weight, height and width of the egg, shell thickness, shape index, yolk index, albumen index and Haugh units. An exploratory transectional or cross-sectional design was used and the data were processed in the statistical package SPSS version 22. The results indicate that there is a variation of the yolk diameter between the egg colors; the light brown and green coloration showed the highest values ​​with 4.4 ± 0.30 and 4.3 ± 0.27cm respectively. The yolk index was higher in the light brown and green colored eggs, however, only the green color corresponds to the highest quality standards. The analysis of the Haugh units showed 80.4%, which expresses very good quality for the marketing process and durability of the product; while the white and light brown eggs showed values ​​between 77.63 and 70.72% respectively. The indicators height and diameter of the yolk and height and diameter of the albumen were higher for the green color, favoring the indices of yolk and white or albumen, which is why it is manifested in the Haugh Units by presenting very good quality. A logical relation of the internal and external quality is not expressed for the green color, unlike the other colorations.