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Review
. 2024 Jun 11;13(12):1834.
doi: 10.3390/foods13121834.

Chicken Egg White Gels: Fabrication, Modification, and Applications in Foods and Oral Nutraceutical Delivery

Junhua Li  1   2   3 , Xuechun Wang  1   2 , Cuihua Chang  1   2 , Luping Gu  1   2 , Yujie Su  1   2 , Yanjun Yang  1 , Dominic Agyei  4 , Qi Han  5
Affiliations
Review

Chicken Egg White Gels: Fabrication, Modification, and Applications in Foods and Oral Nutraceutical Delivery

Junhua Li et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Chicken egg white (EW) proteins possess various useful techno-functionalities, including foaming, gelling or coagulating, and emulsifying. The gelling property is one of the most important functionalities of EW proteins, affecting their versatile applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries. However, it is challenging to develop high-quality gelled foods and innovative nutraceutical supplements using native EW and its proteins. This review describes the gelling properties of EW proteins. It discusses the development and action mechanism of the physical, chemical, and biological methods and exogenous substances used in the modification of EW gels. Two main applications of EW gels, i.e., gelling agents in foods and gel-type carriers for nutraceutical delivery, are systematically summarized and discussed. In addition, the research and technological gaps between modified EW gels and their applications are highlighted. By reviewing the new modification strategies and application trends of EW gels, this paper provides insights into the development of EW gel-derived products with new and functional features.

Keywords: chicken egg white; egg white proteins; gelation; hydrogels; nutraceutical delivery.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Composition and gelling properties of EW proteins derived from EW liquid or EW powder. The structural information of ovalbumin (1OVA), ovotransferrin (1OVT), and lysozyme (1DPX) was obtained from Protein Data Bank. Ovomucoid and two subunits of Ovomucin were visualized by AlphaFold DB P01005, AF-Q98UI9-F1, and AF-F1NBL0-F1, respectively. Some AlphaFold structural regions may be unstructured in isolation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) The gelation mechanism and gelling properties of EW gels. (b) The structural characterization of EW gels in macro-scale, meso-scale, nano-scale, and molecule-scale.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Physical, chemical, biological, and exogenous addition methods for modifying the gelling properties of EW proteins.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic representation of three major forms of modified EW gels for nutraceutical delivery.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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