Egg white

Egg white, or albumen, is the clear, mostly water-based protein mixture surrounding an egg yolk. Heat or whipping changes its structure, making it opaque or foam-like.

Ovalbumin: The most abundant protein in egg white, accounting for roughly half of its protein content. It is the principal protein that unfolds and coagulates during cooking.
Protein denaturation: The loss of a protein's native structure without necessarily breaking its amino-acid chain. Heating or whipping unfolds egg-white proteins so they can form new bonds.
Angel food cake: A light cake whose airy structure relies heavily on whipped egg whites. Its volume and fine crumb depend on egg-white foam expanding and setting in the oven.
Stiff peaks: A whipped-foam stage in which peaks stand upright without collapsing. This endpoint signals a firm egg-white foam suitable for many meringues.
Ovotransferrin: An egg-white protein that binds iron and contributes to antimicrobial defense. It denatures at lower temperatures than ovalbumin, helping set heated egg white.
Protein coagulation: The aggregation of unfolded proteins into a solid or gel-like network. This network makes cooked egg white opaque and firm.
Macaron: A small meringue-based confection made with almond flour and commonly filled after baking. Egg-white foam supplies the shells' structure and contributes to their characteristic surface.
Soft peaks: A whipped-foam stage in which peaks briefly hold shape before folding over. It marks an earlier, more flexible stage in egg-white aeration.
Ovomucin: A glycoprotein that gives thick egg white much of its gel-like viscosity. Its network helps explain why fresh egg white can be thick rather than watery.
Foam: A dispersion of gas bubbles within a liquid or solid material. Whipped egg white is a foam stabilized by proteins around air bubbles.

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