Studies on the Lysozyme Concentration in the Egg White of the Domestic Fowl

Over the past 30 years many studies have been done to characterize the enzyme lysozyme and its effects, details of which can be found in the excellent reviews of Thompson (1941) and Hartsell (1949).

Poultry egg whites have long been considered as a high concentration enzyme source, but changes in egg whites of different chickens have not been noticed. In fact, some workers use proteins as standard criteria for quantitatively measuring lysozyme in other bodily fluids and tissues. Recent evidence (Hawthorne, 1950; Feeney et al., 1952) shows the main role of lysozyme in dilution of egg white. All other birds that have been tested to date (Fleming and Allison, 1924; Smolelis and Hartsell, 1951) show that these proteins are less lysozyme than poultry. . .

Typical data on protein solids distribution, lysozyme yield and activity of the resulting formulation are shown in Table II. These data indicate that up to 90% of the lysozyme present in the egg white can be obtained at this concentration 35 to 40 times the concentration of the original egg white solid. Within the margin of error of the assay method, the activity of the material is constant from formulation to formulation. The concentration of the active substance contained in the eluate at pH 5.0 can be achieved in various ways. The active substance was precipitated by adding ammonium sulfate at a concentration of 2.6 M and collected by centrifugation or filtration. The precipitate readily dissolves in distilled water and the solution can be removed by dialing. The solution is dried in the frozen state to obtain a white solid.

Poultry egg whites have long been considered as a high concentration enzyme source, but changes in egg whites of different chickens have not been noticed. In fact, some workers use proteins as standard criteria for quantitatively measuring lysozyme in other bodily fluids and tissues. Recent evidence (Hawthorne, 1950; Feeney et al., 1952) shows the main role of lysozyme in dilution of egg white. All other birds that have been tested to date (Fleming and Allison, 1924; Smolelis and Hartsell, 1951) show that these proteins are less lysozyme than poultry. . .