Advances in techniques for reducing cholesterol in egg yolk: A review

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Nutritional Biochemistry

Background:

• Eggs are nutrient-dense but contain high cholesterol, raising concerns about cardiovascular health.
• Dietary cholesterol's impact on atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk remains debated, leading to recommendations for reduced intake.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and analyze techniques for reducing cholesterol content in shelled egg yolks.
• To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of various cholesterol reduction methods for industrial application.

Main Methods:

• Solvent extraction
• Fractionation by centrifugation
• Cholesterol chelation/adsorption
• Cholesterol biotransformation

Main Results:

• Solvent extraction and biotransformation can reduce cholesterol by over 93%, but face scalability issues due to safety and economic concerns.
• Fractionation by centrifugation achieves up to 82% reduction, while cholesterol chelates can reach 99% reduction.
• Fractionation is highlighted as a preferred method due to its additive-free nature.

Conclusions:

• Several techniques exist to reduce egg yolk cholesterol, with varying degrees of effectiveness and industrial applicability.
• Fractionation by centrifugation and cholesterol chelates are the most industrially viable methods currently available.
• Fractionation is considered superior as it does not involve the addition of external substances.