Abstract
The historical background of “balut” and “penoy”, boiled fertilized and unfertilized incubated duck eggs, respectively, was investigated and some chemical aspects of this egg product were studied. Samples were commercial boiled incubated fertilized (“balut”) and unfertilized (“penoy”) eggs from the Philippines and eggs purchased in Japan and incubated in the university laboratory. Result of the search revealed that “balut” and “penoy” making is not native to the Philippines. Chinese traders and migrants have brought the idea of eating fertilized duck eggs to the Philippines around the 17th century. However, the knowledge and craft of balut-making has been localized by the “balut” makers (mangbabalut). To date, “balut” production has not been mechanized in favor of the traditional production by hand. The total FAA content of the incubated samples was higher than that of the non-incubated samples. Taurine significantly increased in both the unfertilized and fertilized samples, thus has a positive impact on the nutritive value of the product. It was observed that after boiling, a large amount of drip was present in the whole incubated fertilized eggs, less in the unfertilized and hardly any in the non-incubated ones.
