Egg versatility adds value

Wikimedia Commons image

Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development Agri-News 

In a partnership with industry, including the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA), Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions and Egg Farmers of Alberta, Dr. Jianping Wu, of the University of Alberta, has been researching additional uses for eggs with a focus on links between eggs and human health.


Dr. Wu’s says his research has found an environmentally friendly way to extract one of the proteins (phosvitin) and a type of fatty acid (phospholipid) from egg yolks. This is done without the use of solvents that degrade product quality and can hurt the environment. Phosvitin, a protein in egg yolk, can find applications in bone and dental health. Extracting the phosvitin protein, minus the use of solvents, may result in safer commercial extraction methods.

In a second project, Dr. Wu says he has developed proof-of-concept technology to extract sialic acid from egg white ovomucin.

“Sialic acid, an essential nutrient for infant brain development, is found in rich supply in human milk,” says Dr. Wu. “Egg whites, unlike bovine milk, have the same form of sialic acid as found in human milk.”

Wu believes the future could see infant formula containing egg-derived sialic acid rather than bovine milk-derived sialic acid, bringing the formula ingredients more in line with infants’ natural needs.

Dr. Wu says the extraction approach used isn’t complicated. “The methods we developed for extraction are simple, using only water and salt as mediums, and are scalable for industry application.”

“These projects diversify the uses of eggs, adding additional value to this commodity,” says ALMA president and CEO, Gordon Cove. “Consumers want environmentally friendly, natural products. Dr. Wu’s research is helping to meet these wants.”

For more on these projects, contact Dr. Wu at jianping.wu@ualberta.ca.