proteins are especially important for the cook and worth knowing by name Ovomucin accounts for less than 2% of the total albumen protein, but has by far the greatest influence on the fresh egg’s commercial and culinary value It makes fried and poached eggs compact and attractive by making the thick white thick — 40 times more so than the thin white Ovomucin somehow pulls together the otherwise soupy protein solution into an organized structure; gently tear a piece of hard-cooked white and you can see its laminations along the edge of the tear This structure is thought to help cushion the yolk and slow the penetration of microbes through the white It gradually disintegrates with age in the raw egg, which may make the white more digestible for the developing chick, and certainly makes the egg less useful for the cook Ovalbumin, the most plentiful egg protein, was the first protein ever crystallized in the laboratory (in 1890), yet its natural function remains unclear It seems related to a family of proteins that inhibit protein-digesting enzymes, and may be a mainly nutritional relic of ancient battles against a now-extinct microbe It is the only egg protein to have reactive sulfur groups, which make decisive contributions to the flavor, texture, and color of cooked eggs Interestingly for the cook, ovalbumin’s heat resistance increases for several days after laying, so that very fresh eggs need less cooking for a given consistency than eggs a few days old Ovotransferrin holds tightly onto iron atoms to prevent bacteria from using them, and to transport iron in the developing chick’s body It is the first protein to coagulate when an egg is ... that inhibit protein-digesting enzymes, and may be a mainly nutritional relic of ancient battles against a now-extinct microbe It is the only egg protein to have reactive sulfur groups, which make decisive contributions to the flavor,... eggs a few days old Ovotransferrin holds tightly onto iron atoms to prevent bacteria from using them, and to transport iron in the developing chick’s body It is the first protein to coagulate when an egg is...Ovalbumin, the most plentiful egg protein, was the first protein ever crystallized in the laboratory (in 1890), yet its natural function remains unclear It seems related to a family of proteins