ABSTRACT
The high nutritional properties of eggs make them ideal for many people with special dietary requirements. Eggs are also suitable for nutritional enhancement of several kinds of foods. On top of everything, eggs are safe, familiar, and economically available in large quantities. Egg proteins, which are distributed in both yolk and albumen, are nutritionally complete proteins with an unsurpassable balance of amino acids. Egg yolk is considered a potentially important source of energy because more than 65% of the contents of dry yolk are lipids. Egg yolk contains triglycerides, phospholipids, and sterols. Cooking improves digestibility and also influences nutrient composition. Heating denatures native proteins and enzyme inhibitors, helping to improve the availability of egg nutrients. The main adverse effects of eating eggs are that they might induce allergies, mainly in children. Since the hen acts as a "biological filter", egg nutrients are normally free of contaminants and, therefore, safer for human consumption.
