DEVELOPMENT OF A SAFER FORMULATION OF EGG YOLK CREAM: PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND SENSORIAL CHARACTERISTICS ASSESSMENT JOANA F. FUNDO, MAFALDAA.C. QUINTAS, TERESA R.S. BRANDÃO and CRISTINA L.M. SILVA 1 CBQF – Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina Escola Superior de Biotecnologia – Universidade Católica Portuguesa 4200-072 Porto, Portugal Accepted for Publication November 3, 2009 ABSTRACT Egg yolk cream is a sweet confectioned with egg yolk, sugar and water. The use of raw egg products is a potential safety hazard in its production. In this work, a safer formulation is developed by using an easier to manipulate raw material – pasteurized liquid egg. Because of previous heat treatment, pasteurized liquid egg presents different sensorial, nutritional and physical properties. These changes may alter the final product’s characteristics. In this work, a study on adding pasteurized egg white (as bulking agent) to the pasteurized liquid yolk was carried out. Samples made with shell eggs and with pasteurized liquid eggs were compared in terms of physical and chemical parameters. Results allowed characterizing the properties of typical egg cream and of alternative formulations using pasteurized egg yolk and white. A new formula of egg cream was developed and its sensorial acceptance was tested against the typical formulation. PRATICAL APPLICATIONS In this article, research on substituting intact raw eggs by pasteurized ones in egg yolk cream typical production is presented. This kind of product can be used in pastry fillings and toppings, or consumed as a sweet desert and also as a basis for production of several different deserts, such as fruit and nut custards. Eggs are an extremely important ingredient for food industries because of its technological and sensorial characteristics. The use of pasteur- ized eggs in foods formulation is a powerful instrument to improve the prod- uct’s safety. However, the product’s quality attributes must be preserved. In 1 Corresponding author. TEL: 351-225580058; FAX: 351-225090351; EMAIL: clsilva@esb.ucp.pt Journal of Food Processing and Preservation 35 (2011) 220–235. 220 DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-4549.2009.00472.x © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.