Development of Rice Straw Pulp for Salted Egg Coating

Abstract

This research aimed to reduce the amount of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) used in the extraction by boiling of rice straw pulp. The results showed that high quality RSP can be obtained by soaking RSP in 10% urea solution for 10 days and followed by boiling in 5% NaOH solution for 40 minutes. The NaOH concentration decreased from 20% to 5% when compared to the original method. RSP contained 82.73% crude fiber. The hue angle (ho) of egg yolk in the developed method was 8.37 which was higher than the original method. The eggs conformed to the Thai Community Product Standard that the boiled albumen was white with soft, smooth, and non-harsh texture; and the egg yolk was deep in color with 0.96 a. Besides, the products were low in lead and mercury contamination which was 0.031 and 0.0027 mg/kg, respectively. The maximum allowable lead and mercury according to the Thai Community Product Standard were 1 and 0.02 mg/kg, respectively. It showed that the salted eggs were safely edible. Furthermore, total microbial count, yeast and mold were less than 10 CFU/g; and Salmonella spp., Clostridium perfrigens and Staphylococcus aureus were not found.