Hen Eggs are one of the most widely consumed foods in the world. It is popular because of its taste and the protein of the egg. People widely adopt eggs into their meals due to the higher protein content of egg. Eggs were once a debatable topic linked with increase in ldl cholesterol. But many industry experts have since demonstrated that eggs have lots of eating advantages and source of proteins. There are many other nutrients that eggs are loaded with. This article shall discuss proteins of egg particularly protein in 1 egg white as well as boiled egg protein.
When you go to a supermarket, you may find varieties of eggs from different farms. If you take half a dozen egg boxes in your hand, you will notice that some eggs are heavier than others and their cost also varies accordingly. Protein content of egg depend upon its weight. Eggs come in different weights so protein content of egg along with its other nutrients will vary.
Proteins of Egg
Eggs are a very good source of proteins and are categorised as high-quality proteins. It contains all the essential amino acids that the body cannot produce. Generally, if you have to find how good a food is in its protein, you need to find the percentage of protein it has as compared to its total calories. This is also termed as the protein richness of that food.
The upcoming paragraphs will demonstrate proteins of egg in its different forms such as proteins of whole egg, proteins of egg white and proteins of boiled egg. Read on.
Measuring Proteins of Egg
There is no way to establish how much protein content of eggs purchased from the supermarket. Here we have weighed the raw egg as 56 gm and calculated its nutrition to establish its protein content.
We observed that the edible portion of the egg is only 47 gm as the weight of its shell was 9 gm. This was done by weighing raw egg yolk and raw egg white in a bowl. This weight was later by subtracted by the weight of the bowl (which was 63 gm) in final measurements. In this case protein content of egg was found to be 6.24 gm.
Proteins of egg white
Since I have already measured raw egg white as 30 grams, I calculated the protein in 1 egg white as 3.25 gm
A whole hen egg weighing 56 gm has 30 gm of raw egg white and 17 gm of egg yolk. In terms of percentage Egg white weighs around 54% by weight and egg yolk weighs 30 % by weight and balance 16% being weight of eggshell. It is to be observed that egg white does not contain any carbs and hence can be added to a low carb diet or keto diet.
Boiled egg protein
Many of the office goers or the unmarried people are fond of boiled eggs as it does not need any further cooking. Even the gym goers also opt for boiled eggs as an oil free eating that reduces fats and adds more proteins. For a healthy adult and a healthy child, boiled egg protein is great mode to get essential vitamins and minerals. Egg provide Vitamin D and Vitamin B12, zinc selenium and other minerals too.
Many of these nutrients are a vital aspect of a healthy person’s diet. If you are in a hurry you can also just boil the whole egg and consume only the egg white portion of it.
To calculate our boiled egg protein I have weighed another hen egg and put it for boiling. The weight of the whole hen egg was 48 gm and after boiling its weight was observed to be reduced by 1 gm to 47 gm.
When we peeled the shell separated egg white and egg yolk and measured their weight separately. The weights was found to be 28 gm and 13 gm respectively. The weight of eggshell was established as 6 gm by reduction method. We have reduced the weight of boiled egg white and boiled egg yolk from the whole boiled egg. The calculation was as follows:
Calculating boiled egg protein
a. Weight of eggshell = Weight of whole boiled egg – (Boiled egg weight of boiled egg white + weight of boiled egg yolk).
b. Weight of eggshell = 47 (28 + 13) grams
c. Weight of eggshell – 6 grams
In terms of percentage of whole egg, the egg white weighed around 59.57 % by weight and egg yolk weighed 27.66 % by weight and balance 12.77 % being the weight of eggshell.
So I have calculated boiled egg protein for the whole egg and white egg portion separately. The screenshots are attached for your review.
I found that the whole boiled egg protein is 5.07 gm whereas boiled egg white protein content as 3.46 gm
Conclusion
Proteins of egg depend upon its weight and usually is around 6 to 7 grams. Protein in 1 egg white is around 3 to 4 grams. Protein content of eggs nearly remains the same when you boil an egg.
In terms of energy balance, it is observed that protein content of a raw egg is 40% compared to its calories, protein in 1 egg white raw is 97% of the total calories, boiled egg protein content for the whole egg is 36.4% of its total energy and boiled egg white protein for white portion is 94% of its total calories. Egg whites raw and boiled egg white contain most of the protein whereas whole eggs are relatively less protein rich. To get maximum protein of egg with minimum calories, can happen when one eats more egg white than whole eggs.
What kind of proteins are in eggs?
Egg is a non-plant protein and contains all the essential amino acids. Amino acids are breakdown structures of proteins. There are some that are created in our body and for others the body depends upon food source. These proteins are called essential amino acids. Our body nearly makes more than 1 lakh different types of proteins through the combination of essential and non-essential amino acids. Eggs contain all the essential amino acids and further Proteins of egg are considered as one of the high-quality proteins. The quality of proteins is represented by a ranking or score called Protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS). The highest value of PDCAAS is 1.0 that any protein can be rated to is 1.0. Soy, whey, and egg have the PDCAAS value of 1 and hence are considered good quality proteins, while those of plants or wheat gluten are ranked even lower.
Is 2 eggs a day enough protein?
The Protein content of a whole egg of a normal size is around 6 gm. If you take 2 eggs, they will add up to 12 grams. A healthy adult woman weighs anywhere between 45 to 55 kilos and she needs at least 40 grams of proteins for growth and repairs of tissues in the body. If you calculate the difference, there is a huge gap of around 30 to 35 grams which must be met with other food sources. This protein requirement for a man is even more. So if your diet alone is providing say 35 to 40 grams of proteins then perhaps 2 eggs a day may be enough protein for a woman. The reverse is also true.
Does boiling an egg kill the protein?
Raw egg consumption may make us vulnerable to food poisoning because of certain bacteria on its shell and to kill any bacteria, eggs must be heated. Also, only half the amount of proteins is absorbed when you eat eggs in its raw form. Thus in order to make complete use of money, we must eat a whole egg provided there are no medical constraints.
Heating the egg on the other hand or boiling it results in breaking of protein molecules. This helps the body absorb some proteins that cannot be absorbed in their natural state. This process of breaking molecules of protein when heated is called “denature”. It happens at a temperature above 45 degree Celsius. This is the reason why meat is cooked at a high temperature. In our body also, when you eat any food, the proteins are broken into different amino acids. Denature can also provide a different aroma to the proteins and a slight brownish colour. Boiled egg protein is not killed when boiled. In-fact boiling or heating proteins help our body absorb other nutrients too.
