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Review
. 2023 Jun 29;12(13):2531.
doi: 10.3390/foods12132531.

Physical Characteristics of Egg Yolk Granules and Effect on Their Functionality

Beatrice Mofoluwaso Oladimeji  1 , Ronald Gebhardt  1
Affiliations
Review

Physical Characteristics of Egg Yolk Granules and Effect on Their Functionality

Beatrice Mofoluwaso Oladimeji et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Eggs are among the most nutritious foods in the world, a versatile ingredient in many food applications due to their functional attributes such as foaming, emulsifying, and coloring agents. Many studies have been reported on egg yolk fractionation and characterization in the last decade because of its nutritional and health benefits, especially egg yolk granules. This has led to the development of new food products and packaging materials. However, the influence of their physical characteristics during processing significantly impacts the functionality of yolk granules. In this overview, the egg yolk, the granule fraction's separation, fractionation, components, and molecular protein structure are first presented. Secondly, recent studies on egg yolk granules published over the past decade are discussed. Furthermore, the application of the granules in different industries and current specific scientific challenges are discussed. Finally, it simplifies the changes in the physical characteristics of the granules during different treatment methods and the impact on the functionalities of the resulting products in the food (emulsifiers, edible films), pharmaceutical, and health (encapsulation systems and biosensors) sectors.

Keywords: applications; egg yolk granules; functionality; macro-molecular protein structure; physical characteristics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Structure of egg yolk system by [12]; (B) schematic model of egg yolk granule proposed by [7]; (C) components of the microstructure of egg yolk: (a) granule and (b) LDL in plasma proposed by [15]; and (D) representation of the model of (a) native and (b) disrupted egg yolk structure proposed by [15].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Diagram summarizing applications of current mechanically and thermal-treated egg yolk granules.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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