Concentration of Egg Whites
The desire to obtain natural proteins from crude extracts in the biopharmaceutical industry drives the study of using membrane filtration to conduct protein concentration and/or fractionation. The table below lists the major proteins found in chick egg whites. Previous techniques used to concentrate or fractionate the proteins from chick egg white include precipitation, crystallization, and centrifugation. Compared to these methods, membrane filtration can provide higher-quality products with less impurities, lower environmental impact, and reduced energy consumption. Depending on whether the application is for protein concentration or fractionation, Synder Filtration can offer PES membranes chosen over a wide range of molecular weight cut-offs. For example, to concentrate all the major proteins in egg white, MT (PES 5kDa) and ST (PES 10kDa) membranes would be suitable for use. In order to isolate ovalbumin, the main protein found in egg whites that have a molecular weight of 45kDa and high nutritional value, a two-stage ultrafiltration system with MK (PES 30kDa) and LY (PES 100kDa) would be more applicable.
Benefits of membrane process:
- Lower environmental impact and energy consumption
- Higher-quality extraction of natural proteins with less impurities