# Is the bulk of the protein in the white or the yolk of an egg? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 25, 2007, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bulk-of-the-protein-in-the-white-or-the-yolk-of-an-egg/413070 "2007-07-25T12:25:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bulk-of-the-protein-in-the-white-or-the-yolk-of-an-egg/413070/1 "2007-07-25T12:25:22Z")
I’m in a little debate with my wife. Please help me win. She said there is more protein in the yolk than in the white. I say there is more in the white than the yolk? Am I right? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bulk-of-the-protein-in-the-white-or-the-yolk-of-an-egg/413070/2 "2007-07-25T12:28:38Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] I’m in a little debate with my wife. Please help me win. She said there is more protein in the yolk than in the white. I say there is more in the white than the yolk? Am I right? [/QUOTE] [The white.](http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/protein/egg-protein.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bulk-of-the-protein-in-the-white-or-the-yolk-of-an-egg/413070/3 "2007-07-25T12:35:48Z")
Or maybe not. That source cites the USDA nutrition database, but a search there gives different results. Whites, 10.90 grams per hundred grams. Yolks, 15.86 grams per hundred grams. [Link.](http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/) ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bulk-of-the-protein-in-the-white-or-the-yolk-of-an-egg/413070/4 "2007-07-25T12:56:00Z")
According to Harold McGee’s _On Food and Cooking_, a shelled U.S. Large egg weighs about 55 grams; this breaks down on average to 38 grams in the white and 17 in the yolk. There are 3.9 grams of protein in the white, but only 2.7 in the yolk. This means that the majority of the protein of an egg is in fact in the white, but the yolk has more protein in it per unit weight. My guess is that you’ll have to call this argument a draw. Edit: **Contrapuntal** , your sources aren’t actually in disagreement; in fact, you seem to have the same numbers as I do. It’s just a matter of whether you’re counting total protein or concentration of protein. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bulk-of-the-protein-in-the-white-or-the-yolk-of-an-egg/413070/5 "2007-07-25T13:07:08Z")
note: some people eat just the white to duck the cholesterol and/or fat in the yolk. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bulk-of-the-protein-in-the-white-or-the-yolk-of-an-egg/413070/6 "2007-07-25T13:08:08Z")
Good, a draw would mean we both win. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bulk-of-the-protein-in-the-white-or-the-yolk-of-an-egg/413070/7 "2007-07-25T15:10:20Z")
The other complication is the water content. The white is basically nothing but water and protein, while the yolk is water, protein, and fats. So if you removed a significant portion of the water of an egg (say, by frying it), then what’s left of the white will have a greater concentration of protein than what’s left of the yolk. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bulk-of-the-protein-in-the-white-or-the-yolk-of-an-egg/413070/8 "2007-07-25T16:22:17Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Or maybe not. That source cites the USDA nutrition database, but a search there gives different results. Whites, 10.90 grams per hundred grams. Yolks, 15.86 grams per hundred grams. [Link.](http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/) [/QUOTE] A large egg contains about 15g of yolk, and 35g of white. ([here](http://www.sizes.com/food/chicken_eggs.htm) and [here](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&c2coff=1&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=O33&q=eggs+size+chicken&btnG=Search) )