Abstract:

Morphology characteristics of eggshell, such as cuticle layer, prismatic crystal layer, column layer, cone
layer, and outer and inner eggshell membranes were investigated with scanning electron microscopy. In addtion,
some new ultrastructural features were also observed such as different crystallization direction of adjacent columnar
monocrystals on the outer surface of prismatic crystal layer, the immature cones, and the radial crystallization on the
cross-section of cones. These ultrastructural characteristics of eggshell could be adopted as a typical model of eggshell
ultrastructures for understanding of the eggshell formation process, egg authenticity determination and other related
research work.

Key words: chicken eggshell, eggshell membrane, cone layer, column layer, prismatic crystal layer, cuticle layer