Upon heating, egg yolk transforms from a liquid to a gel due to protein denaturation. This process can serve as a useful model to better understand protein denaturation in general. Using x-ray holographic tomography, we investigated the structural changes in egg yolk during boiling without the need for complex sample fixation or drying. Our results reveal a developing separation between proteins and lipids, with fatty components rapidly aggregating into large globules that subsequently evolve into bubbles.
@article{arxiv.2504.06032,
title = {3D evolution of protein networks and lipid globules in heat-treated egg yolk},
author = {Felix Wittwer and Nimmi Das Anthuparambil and Frederik Unger and Randeer Pratap Gautam and Silja Flenner and Imke Greving and Christian Gutt and Peter Modregger},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.06032},
year = {2025}
}