Ovomucin - a glycoprotein with promising potential

Dileep A Omana; Jiapei Wang; Jianping Wu

doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2010.07.001

Ovomucin - a glycoprotein with promising potential

Trends Food Sci Technol. 2010 Sep;21(9):455-463. doi: 10.1016/j.tifs.2010.07.001. Epub 2010 Jul 9.

Authors

Dileep A Omana¹, Jiapei Wang¹, Jianping Wu¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science (AFNS), University of Alberta, 4-10 Ag/For Building, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - T6G 2P5.

Abstract

Ovomucin, accounting for ∼3.5% of total egg white protein, is responsible for the thick gel characteristics of liquid egg white. Besides its excellent foaming and emulsion capacities, it possesses anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-tumor and other bioactivities. This paper reviews compositional, structural, physicochemical, functional and biological properties of ovomucin, as well as development of methods of extraction. As one of the least defined proteins in egg white, further study is required to characterize the structure and to explore its full potential in new applications as functional foods and nutraceuticals.

Publication types

Review