J. Bio. & Env. Sci. 2019 174 | Al-Shadeedi et al. RESEARCH PAPER OPEN ACCESS Effect of abnormal egg shell on quality and microbial quality of commercial table egg in Baghdad markets Shahrazad M. J. Al-Shadeedi *1 , Faris A. Al-Obaidi 2 , Mohammed J. Al-Hilfi 3 1 Market Research and Consumer Protection Center, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq 2 Iraq Natural History Research Center & Museum, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq 3 College of Agriculture, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq Article published on February 28, 2019 Key words: Commercial table eggs, Abnormalities, Quality, Microbial, Retail stores, Baghdad. Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the effect of abnormal egg shell on quality and microbial characteristic of commercial table egg in Baghdad markets through determination some quality and microbial characteristics of the eggs. A total of 10000 commercial chicken table eggs were checked and surveyed from retail markets in different popular regions of Baghdad city during the period from January 11 th to December 25 th of 2018. Results revealed that many types of egg abnormalities were collected during the study periods, which were distributed into three main categories of egg abnormalities (shape, size and texture), each main categories were subdivided into two subcategories of egg abnormalities (round shape, elliptical shape, large size, small size, ridged texture and soft-shelled texture). Significant differences (P<0.01) were appeared in the egg weight (gm), Haugh unit, yolk index, egg component (yolk, albumen and shell) percentages among all categories of egg abnormalities compared with normal eggs. The most microbial count on egg shell was Psychrophilic bacteria, which made the largest viable counts on all type of eggs, then came Coliform, Staphylococci and Fungi (moulds and yeasts). Significant differences (P<0.01) in the egg shell microbial counts were appeared among all categories of egg abnormalities compared with normal eggs. In conclusion, all these shell abnormalities have bad quality appearance and may have high microbial counts which affect the shelf life of table egg during long term storage and must rejected from marketing. * Corresponding Author: Shahrazad M.J. Al-Shadeedi  dr_shahrazad08@yahoo.com Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (JBES) ISSN: 2220-6663 (Print) 2222-3045 (Online) Vol. 14, No. 2, p. 174-180, 2019 http://www.innspub.net