Free Amino Acid Content of Infertile Chicken Eggs

THE free amino acids in infertile chicken eggs have received comparatively little attention since the observation by Pucher in 1927 that egg white contains 3.3 mg. amino acid N/100 g. and yolk contains 49 mg. amino acid N/100 g. His data also indicated that during storage of infertile eggs at incubator temperature, presumably 37°C., the free amino acid content of white increased two-fold. These observations were reported in a short note with no information on methods used. More recently, Lea and Rhodes (1953), in a study of impurities in yolk phospholipid preparations, identified 11 free amino acids in yolk. They used paper chromatography and made no attempt to identify all of the amino acids in yolk nor to determine total concentration. As part of an investigation of basic composition of chicken eggs, we have examined fresh infertile eggs for content and distribution of free amino acids, and have identified at …