An intact yolk surrounded by egg white

Egg oil (CAS No. 8001-17-0, INCI: Egg Oil, OLEOVA), also known as egg yolk oil, is derived from the yolk of chicken eggs consisting mainly of triglycerides with traces of lecithin, cholesterol and xanthophylls such as lutein and zeaxanthin. It is free of egg proteins and hence may be used safely by people who are allergic to eggs, for topical applications such as hair and skin care.

Production[link]

The oil is traditionally extracted from the yolk, by a fairly simple process,^[1] by which fifty eggs yield approximately five ounces of oil.^[2] Modern methods of production include liquid-liquid extraction.^[3]

Composition[link]

The fatty acid composition of egg oil is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids such as omega-3 fatty acids ( inlcluding docosahexaenoic acid) and omega-6 fatty acids ( including arachidonic acid) and resembles the fatty acid profile of human milk.^[4]

Complete fatty acid profile[link]

Oleic acid (C18:1)	37.5%
Palmitic acid (C16:0)	35.7%
Linoleic acid (C18:2)	10.7%
Palmitoleic acid (C16:1)	7.8%
Stearic acid (C18:0)	3.3%
Myristic acid (C14:0)	1.1%
Docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6)	0.5%
Myristoleic acid (C14:1)	0.4%
Heptadecanoic acid (C17:0)	0.3%
Arachidonic acid (C20:4)	0.2%
Eicosanoic acid (C20:0)	0.2%
Linolenic acid (C18:3)	0.1%
Pentadecanoic acid (C15:0)	0.1%

Typical analysis[link]

Appearance	Yellow coloured, hazy liquid
Consistency	Viscous liquid/Semi-solid at 25 C.
Odour	Mild characteristic odour of egg
Refractive Index	1.46 - 1.48
Specific Gravity	0.90 – 0.95
Gardner color scale	11 Max.
Acid value	< 5.0 (mg KOH/g)
Iodine Value	> 60

Uses[link]

Cosmetics[link]

Egg yolk has been used in traditional cosmetics since the eleventh century in Jewish, Greek, Arab and Latin cultures.^[5]

Skin care[link]

It can be used as an excipient/carrier in a variety of cosmetic preparations such as creams, ointments, sun-screen products or lotions where it acts as an emollient, moisturizer, anti-oxidant, penetration enhancer, occlusive skin conditioner and anti-bacterial agent.^[6]

Egg oil also helps the texture, lubricating and anti-friction properties of creams and lotions ^[7] for skin. As an occlusive agent, it protects against dehydration without disturbing the pores and is easily incorporated in topical preparations since it forms stable oil in water emulsions.

Hair care[link]

In Indian,^[8] Japanese, Unani (Roghan Baiza Murgh)^[9] and Chinese^[10] traditional medicine, egg oil was traditionally used as a treatment for hair care.

Pharmaceuticals[link]

Burns[link]

Egg oil is a natural emollient, and may be used externally on burns,^[11] where it reduces pain and promotes re-epithilisation. It has been used effectively against burns in rural Ethiopia.^[12]

Scabies[link]

For treatment of scabies in Spain, oil of egg yolk was used along with oil of castor and roses^[13] in ancient Andalusia.

Wounds[link]

Egg oil was traditionally used in treating wounds and injuries. Ambroise Paré used a solution of egg yolk, oil of roses, and turpentine for war wounds, an old method that the Romans had discovered 1000 years before him. He published his first book 'The method of curing wounds caused by arquebus and firearms' in 1545.

Acne vulgaris[link]

For treatment of acne, oil of egg yolk has been used in home remedies^[14], sometimes in combination with tea tree oil (melaleuca oil) for direct application on the infected area as a mask due to it's known anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Egg oil is also used for exfoliation of dead skin and reduction in bacteria count of the underlying dermal layers ^[15]

Infant nutrition[link]

Egg oil can be a valuable source of Polyunsaturated fatty acids like docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid in infant nutrition ^[16] or combined with fish oil for infant formula production.^[17] It is also a known source of vitamin D ^[18]

References[link]

Look up egg in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Egg may refer to:

• Egg (biology), an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop
• Egg cell
• Egg (food), the egg of a fowl or fish consumed as food

Music[link]

• Egg (band), an English group founded 1969
  • Egg (album), by Egg
• Eggs (band), an American group founded 1990

Television and film[link]

• Egg (film), a 2007 Turkish-Greek drama
• Eggs (film), a 1995 Norwegian comedy
• EGG, the Arts Show, a TV program

Other uses[link]

• Egg (car)
• Egg (chair)
• EGG (file format)
• Egg (magazine)
• Egg (video game), a 1981 Nintendo game
• Egg, Austria
• Egg, Switzerland
• Eggs (novel), by Jerry Spinelli
• Egg Banking, a British internet bank
• EGG Project, a parapsychology experiment
• Augustus Egg (1816–1863), English artist
• Darning egg, a sewing tool
• Electrogastrogram, a graphic showing electrical signals in the stomach muscles
• Electroglottograph, a device for measuring vocal fold movement
• Elemental Gimmick Gear, a 1999 Sega Dreamcast game
• EG&G, an American defense contractor
• Evaporating gaseous globule, a type of interstellar gas cloud

See also[link]

• The Egg (disambiguation)
• Egg Island (disambiguation)
• Mr Egg
• World egg

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils.

Etymology[link]

First attested in English 1176, the word oil comes from Old French "oile", from Latin "oleum",^[1] which in turn comes from the Greek "ἔλαιον" (elaion), "olive oil, oil"^[2] and that from "ἐλαία" (elaia), "olive tree".^[3] The earliest attested form of the word is the Mycenaean Greek e-ra-wo, written in Linear B syllabic script.^[4]

Types[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Organic oils[link]

Organic oils are produced in remarkable diversity by plants, animals, and other organisms through natural metabolic processes. Lipid is the scientific term for the fatty acids, steroids and similar chemicals often found in the oils produced by living things, while oil refers to an overall mixture of chemicals. Organic oils may also contain chemicals other than lipids, including proteins, waxes and alkaloids.

Lipids can be classified by the way that they are made by an organism, their chemical structure and their limited solubility in water compared to oils. They have a high carbon and hydrogen content and are considerably lacking in oxygen compared to other organic compounds and minerals; they tend to be relatively nonpolar molecules, but may include both polar and nonpolar regions as in the case of phospholipids and steroids.^[5]

Mineral oils[link]

Crude oil, or petroleum, and its refined components, collectively termed petrochemicals, are crucial resources in the modern economy. Crude oil originates from ancient fossilized organic materials, such as zooplankton and algae, which geochemical processes convert into oil.^[6] It is classified as a mineral oil because it does not have an organic origin on human timescales, but is instead obtained from rocks, underground traps, or sands. Mineral oil also refers to several specific distillates of crude oil.

Applications[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

A bottle of olive oil used in food

Cosmetics[link]

Oils are applied to hair to give it a lustrous look, to prevent tangles and roughness and to stabilize the hair to promote growth.^{[citation needed]} See Hair conditioner.

Religion[link]

Oils are commonly used in ritual anointments. As a particular example, holy anointing oil has been an important ritual liquid for Judaism and Christianity.

Painting[link]

Color pigments are easily suspended in oil, making it suitable as a supporting medium for paints. The oldest known extant oil paintings date from 650 AD.^[7]

Heat transfer[link]

Oils are used as coolants in oil cooling, for instance in electric transformers. Oils are also used to enhance heating in other applications, such as cooking (especially in frying).

Lubrication[link]

Oils are commonly used as lubricants. Mineral oils are more commonly used as machine lubricants than biological oils are.

Fuel[link]

Some oils burn in liquid or aerosol form, generating heat which can be used directly or converted into other forms of energy such as electricity or mechanical work. To obtain many fuel oils, crude oil is pumped from the ground and is shipped via oil tanker to an oil refinery. There, it is converted from crude oil to diesel fuel (petrodiesel), ethane (and other short-chain alkanes), fuel oils (heaviest of commercial fuels, used in ships/furnaces), gasoline (petrol), jet fuel, kerosene, benzene (historically), and liquefied petroleum gas. A 42 gallon barrel (U.S.) of crude oil produces approximately 10 gallons of diesel, 4 gallons of jet fuel, 19 gallons of gasoline, 7 gallons of other products, 3 gallons split between heavy fuel oil and liquified petroleum gases,^[8] and 2 gallons of heating oil. The total production of a barrel of crude into various products results in an increase to 45 gallons.^[8] Not all oils used as fuels are mineral oils, see biodiesel and vegetable oil fuel.

Chemical feedstock[link]

Crude oil can be refined into a wide variety of component hydrocarbons. Petrochemicals are the refined components of crude oil and the chemical products made from them. They are used as detergents, fertilizers, medicines, paints, plastics, synthetic fibers, and synthetic rubber. Organic oils are another important chemical feedstock, especially in green chemistry.

See also[link]

• Cooking oil
• Emulsifier, a chemical which allows oil and water to mix
• Lubrication
• Wax, a class of compounds with oil-like properties that are solid at common temperatures

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2009)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Oil

• Petroleum Online e-Learning resource from IHRDC