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Chemical Composition of Egg and Egg Products

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Handbook of Food Chemistry

Abstract

For many years the egg has been subjected to negative publicity generally related to the cholesterol content which also resulted in decreased consumption. This was a negative attribute even though eggs offered many positive effects in the consumer’s diet. Comprehensive research has now shown that dietary cholesterol does not significantly influence serum cholesterol. Eggs are now being recognized as a highly nutritious food with unique components which offer potential nutraceuticals with specific health benefits. With these recognized benefits, egg consumption has increased substantially in recent years. Much of this higher consumption has resulted from the increased use of eggs as an ingredient in a variety of further processed egg products. The polyfunctional property of eggs continues to make them the preferred ingredient in many food formulations. Also, eggs are considered a healthy food that does not increase serum cholesterol which fits well into high-protein low-carbohydrate diets. The egg is considered as nature’s most perfect food containing excellent source of protein of high biological value, high ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids, and excellent source of minerals and all the vitamins. Vitamin C and lower concentration of calcium are the only nutrients lacking in eggs. The yolk provides all of the fat and contains half of the protein, most of the calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, and vitamins B6, B12, A, and folic acid, and half of the riboflavin and thiamine. Egg white contains about half of the protein and riboflavin.

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  1. 3-142H KATZ Group for Health Research, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E1, Canada

    Hoon H. Sunwoo & Naiyana Gujral

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  1. Hoon H. Sunwoo
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  2. Naiyana Gujral
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Correspondence to Hoon H. Sunwoo .

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  1. School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Peter Chi Keung Cheung

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Sunwoo, H.H., Gujral, N. (2014). Chemical Composition of Egg and Egg Products. In: Cheung, P. (eds) Handbook of Food Chemistry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41609-5_28-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41609-5_28-1

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