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I have read on other nutrition forums that raw eggs contain some protein inhibitor that prevents humans from digesting the protein correctly. They say when you cook the egg it destroys this inhibitor making cooked eggs a good source of protein but raw eggs a poor source. Is there any truth to this?

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Yes, in raw eggs, especially in raw egg white an antinutrient called trypsin inhibitor protein is present which hinders in protein digestion. It can be destroyed by heating at 120 C for 15-20 minutes. Raw egg white also contains a protein called avidin which inhibits the absorption of Biotin-a B vitamin.If you cook the eggs both the factors are destroyed.

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I never cook my eggs for that long.... 15 minutes would be totally overdone. Are you talking about boiling, frying or what? – rmx Jun 27 '11 at 9:37
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In fact 120 C for 15-20 minutes is required for duck egg(Autoclaving in a pressure cooker). A hen egg requires only coagulation of egg white (Albumin) means soft boiled egg or slightly fried. So don't worry about cooking. – Madhuri Sathe Jun 27 '11 at 10:09
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Why is the inhibitor destroyed with so much less cooking in a hen egg than in a duck egg? I would have expected the same heating required to deactivate it regardless of the protein around it... – Greg♦ Jun 27 '11 at 16:15
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Its given in my book, Nutritive value of Indian Foods, Trypsin inhibitors inhibit the activity of Trypsin in the gut & interfere with digestibility of dietary proteins. They are heat labile but the extent & ease of heat inactivation varies from one trypsin inhibitor to others.One from soya, lima & kidney beans, duck egg require drastic heat treatment but from other dhals & hen egg white gets inactivated easily,so do not cause any problem. – Madhuri Sathe Jun 28 '11 at 6:05
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The book is written by C.Gopalan, B.V.Rama Sastri, S.C.Balsubramanian, we use that always as a reference book. – Madhuri Sathe Jun 28 '11 at 6:19
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