Understanding Egg Biological Value

Biological Value (BV) is a measurement used in nutrition to describe how efficiently the body can absorb and utilize the protein from a particular food source. It's essentially a gauge of protein quality, reflecting how much of the absorbed protein is retained by the body for growth and tissue repair.

The calculation for BV typically compares the amount of nitrogen retained in the body to the amount absorbed from the food. A higher BV indicates that more of the protein consumed is being used effectively by the body.

Egg Protein Quality

Eggs are widely recognized as a benchmark for high-quality protein. This is due to several factors:

• Complete Amino Acid Profile: Eggs contain all the essential amino acids that the human body cannot produce on its own. These amino acids are present in proportions that closely match human needs.
• High Digestibility: The protein in eggs (found in both the white and yolk) is highly digestible, meaning the body can easily break it down and absorb the amino acids.

Because of this excellent combination of a complete amino acid profile and high digestibility, whole eggs are often assigned a Biological Value of 100. This score signifies that, relative to other protein sources, egg protein is utilized very efficiently by the body.

Therefore, the biological value of egg protein is considered to be 100.