Egg white powder
Egg white powder
Egg white powder is a value-added product made from the liquid egg white. It is will be in powder form. Powdered
egg whites are simply egg whites that have been dehydrated and ground into a
powder. Powdered egg whites or egg white powder are also sold as spray-dried
egg whites and spray- dried albumin. Since egg white is often taken as a
supplement, it is also sold as "egg white protein" or "egg white
protein powder".
Preparation of Egg white
The first step in the process is the breaking of the
eggs. There are 3 main fractions like egg white, egg yolk and whole egg The white
fraction is used for the production of albumen powder. The
fractionation is achieved by breaking the egg over a small cup which only holds
the egg yolk allowing for a vessel under this cup to collect the egg white.
The egg white is then filtered to get rid of any
residual pieces of eggshell or other large contaminants. Afterwards, it is
pumped to storage tanks where the pH is adjusted, using citric acid, and stored
until the egg white is to be used in the production. Next, the egg white is
transferred to a separator which further separates any remnants of eggshell or
other physical residues. The egg white is subjected to a reverse osmosis
treatment which increases the dry weight.
After the
concentration the next goal of the process is to break down the glucose and fat
present in the egg white. Glucose removed by adding either enzymes or bacteria. Fat is removed by adding lipase. This procedure is performed in fermentation tanks. Glucose content should be monitored.
After fermentation pH is corrected using lactic acid.
The egg white is then pumped to a cooling tank where the temperature is lowered
to 4 degrees Celsius.
Finally, the liquid egg white is transformed into
albumen powder using a box spray dryer. -spray drying the last step in the process
is dry heating in large conical dry blenders (87 degrees Celsius for 12 hours)
Advantages of egg white powder:
- It can be stored and transport at room temperature.
- Good shelf life.
- Time saving can store in a smaller space.
- Requires no refrigeration.
