Profile

My present research involves the egg albumen and its functional properties, gelation and foaming. The functionality is important in many food applications using egg albumen as a structuring agent. By heat induction the egg albumen forms a solid gel of high water holding capacity as result of protein denaturation and formation of a polymer network. The gel resistance to deformation is measured by various texture analysis techniques. Additionally, the egg albumen has unique foaming properties with high water- and airbinding capacities. Studies on surface rheology and microscopy of egg albumen foam structure and bubble size distributions have shown these parameters to be highly correlated with the foaming capacity and stability.
The quality of raw egg albumen is significant to the functional properties. In this context the egg production level, hen age, egg storage conditions, protein composition and physical structure of egg albumen are important factors.