Egg Proteins

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About
These are what make an egg so important a source of nutrition, and such a versatile ingredient for the cook. Consider the composition of an egg, as shown in the table.

It will be apparent that the white, apart from its large water content, is almost pure protein; and that the yolk contains proportionately less water, more protein, and much more fat. White and yolk can therefore be expected to, and do, behave differently when cooked. Moreover, the proteins in the yolk are not the same as those in the white, and coagulate at a distinctly higher temperature.