Comparative study of egg white proteins from different species by chromatographic and electrophoretic methods

This work describes the use of different high-resolution techniques to study egg white proteins from hen, quail, duck, pheasant and ostrich. For this purpose, reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing (IEF) were used to compare egg white proteins from these poultry species. The major proteins, lysozyme, ovalbumin, ovomucoid and ovotransferrin, were separated and identified using the three techniques. Isoforms of ovotransferrin and ovalbumin in some species were observed when IEF with gels of pH 4-6 were used. Qualitative and quantitative differences were observed among the individual proteins of the different species investigated.