QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by SMITH, A.J. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by SMITH, A.J. M.

Journal of Experimental Biology 11,228-242 (1934)
Published by Company of Biologists 1934

The Relations between Yolk and White in the Hen's Egg : VI. The Equilibrium between Ice and Egg-Yolk, and the Freezing-Point Difference between Yolk and White

A.J. M. SMITH ¹

¹ Low Temperature Research Station, Cambridge

Egg-yolk from newly laid infertile hen's eggs is in equilibrium with ice at approximately -0·57°C., and the difference between the freezing-points of egg-white and egg-yolk is a real phenomenon.

The osmotic behaviour of intact egg-yolks confirms this value for the freezing-point and indicates that the difference still exists in the intact egg.

At the moment of leaving the hen the freezing-point depression of both white and yolk is considerably greater owing to the presence of carbon dioxide which subsequently escapes.

Ice forms much more slowly in egg-yolk than in aqueous solutions under similar conditions, probably because of the retardation of diffusion and heat transfer in a viscous medium of high fat content.

The author's acknowledgments are due to Mr H. J. Shepherd, who carried out the whole of the experimental work described in the paper.