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The total lipid, cholesterol, phospholipid, and fatty acid content of dried whole egg (DWE), a refrigerated liquid egg substitute, a powdered egg substitute, and a commercial egg yolk replacer (EYR) were compared. All substitutes contained less total lipid, cholesterol, and phospholipid than DWE. The powdered substitute contained only half the total lipid content reported by the producers and only a fifth of the cholesterol of DWE, while the percentage distribution of fatty acids was similar to that of DWE. The liquid substitute and EYR had fatty acid distributions similar to soybean oil. Rat growth and lipid response were compared for diets containing either DWE or a mixture of EYR and egg white. Both diets were fed with and without vitamin and mineral supplements. Rat growth response was greatest on the DWE diets, either with or without the supplements, was intermediate on the supplemented EYR diets, and was least on the unsupplemented EYR diets. The consumption of DWE-containing diets, when compared with the EYR-containing diets, caused greater liver weight, greater liver total lipid and total cholesterol content, and slightly higher serum cholesterol.

The lipid composition of an egg substitute and fresh eggs was conpared. The total lipid was divided into fractions on a silicic acid column. Thin-layer-chromatographic analysis demonstrated that the egg substitute was practically void of cholesteryl esters. Gas-liquid-chromatographic analysis were used to ascertain the fatty acid composition of the various fractions. Eggs contained considerably higher concentrations of saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids than did the substitute. The polyunsaturated fatty acid concentration in the substitute was approximately three times that of eggs. In all fractions, the eggs contained several more individual fatty acids than did the egg substitute.