MS proteomics reveals biologically active substances in egg whites

Research conducted using mass spectrometry (MS) proteomics has helped to identify some of the biologically active substances found in egg whites.

Chicken egg whites have been valued for many years, both for their nutritious benefits and as a research tool in food technology and biochemistry, write researchers in Proteome Science.

Applying MS proteomics to the study of the albumen has now allowed the scientists to identify proteins contained within.

In all, they found 158 proteins present with two or more sequence unique peptides, 79 of which were flagged with high confidence and for the first time in egg white.

Greater knowledge of the biologically active substances contained within albumen could help with future proteomics studies, while the scientists point out that MS proteomics does not affect the composition of the sample being studied.

The research report was authored by Karlheinz Mann and Matthias Mann, both of the Max-Planck-Institut fur Biochemie, Abteilung Proteomics und Signaltransduktion in Matinsried, Germany.

Proteome Science specialises in research relating to functional and structural proteomics disciplines.