Chicken egg white precipitates induced by water dilution

• Published in: International journal of biological macromolecules Vol. 254; no. Pt 3; p. 128084
• Main Authors: Zhao, Bingye, Pu, Jing, Hu, Gan, Liu, Xin, Li, Shugang, Wang, Jinqiu, Geng, Fang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands 01.01.2024
• Subjects: Allergens; Animals; Chickens; Egg White; Ovomucin; Proteomics; Egg white; Water dilution; Lysozyme; Quantitative proteomic
• ISSN: 0141-8130; 1879-0003
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.128084

Chicken egg whites (whole egg white, EW; thick egg white, TKEW; thin egg white, TNEW) become turbid and are accompanied by the formation of precipitates after being diluted with an equal mass of deionized water. The precipitates of TKEW induced by water dilution (Thick Egg White Precipitates, TKEWP) account for 14.47 % of TKEW total dry matter, much higher than that of thin egg white precipitates (TNEWP) (1.51 %) and whole egg white precipitates (EWP) (5.53 %). Quantitative proteomic analysis identified 27 differentially abundant proteins (p < 0.05) among EW, EWP, TNEWP, and TKEWP. Lysozyme was found to be a key protein in the formation of EW precipitates induced by water dilution, as its abundance was significantly higher in TNEWP and TKEWP. Mucin-5B (α-ovomucin) had the highest abundance in TKEWP, suggesting that its insolubility is one of the important factors contributing to the large formation of TKEWP. This paper systematically studies the formation, characteristics, and composition of egg white precipitation caused by water dilution, and puts forward a new understanding of the processing characteristics of egg white liquid, thus laying a theoretical foundation for further research methods to reduce egg white precipitation by water dilution.