Egg yolk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The primary purpose of an egg yolk is to serve as the food source for the developing embryo inside the egg. The yolk is the nucleus of the egg, which until fertilization is a single cell. It sits in the center of the egg close to the embryo. The yolk contains all of the fat in the egg and almost half of the protein. It is surrounded by the egg white (known as albumen or ovalbumin).

It is sometimes separated from the egg white and used in cooking (for custard, hollandaise sauce and crème brûlée)
It is used in painting as a component of tempera.

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Composition of chicken egg yolk

3 egg yolks in a glass

The yolk makes up about 33% of the liquid weight of the egg.

All of the egg's vitamins A, D and E are in the yolk, they are one of the few foods naturally containing vitamin D. A large egg yolk contains approximately 60 calories, the egg white contains about 15 calories. A large yolk contains more than two-thirds of the recommended daily limit of 300mg of cholesterol.

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