# Eggshell membrane

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{{Short description|Membrane of avian eggshells}}
thumb|Eggshell membrane is the clear film lining the chicken eggshell displayed
'''Eggshell membrane''' or '''shell membrane''' is the clear film lining [eggshell](/source/eggshell)s, visible when one peels a boiled [bird egg](/source/bird_egg). Chicken eggshell membranes are used as a [dietary supplement](/source/dietary_supplement).

Eggshell membrane is derived commercially from the eggshells of industrial processors. In the United States, egg-breaking facilities generate more than 24 billion broken eggshells every year.<ref>{{cite web|title=ESM History|url=http://www.esmingredients.com/about-esm/our-history/|website=ESM Technologies|access-date=13 June 2014|archive-date=15 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715093802/http://www.stratumnutrition.com//about-esm/our-history/|url-status=dead}}</ref> There are various [ways in which the membrane is separated from the shell](/source/Eggshell_and_protein_membrane_separation), including chemical, mechanical, steam, and vacuum processes. Attachment of the soft organic fibrous membrane to the hard calcite shell is essential for proper chick embryonic development and growth (via ensuring association of the chorioallantoic membrane, and in allowing for air-sac formation at the blunt end of the egg). This attachment between dissimilar materials is facilitated by a structural interdigitation of fibers into each mammillae at the microscale, and reciprocally, at the nanoscale, mineral spiking into fibers directly at the interface<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=38034363 |date=2023 |last1=Buss |first1=D. J. |last2=Reznikov |first2=N. |last3=McKee |first3=M. D. |title=Attaching organic fibers to mineral: The case of the avian eggshell |journal=iScience |volume=26 |issue=12 |doi=10.1016/j.isci.2023.108425 |pmc=10687338 |bibcode=2023iSci...26j8425B }}</ref>

== Composition ==
Eggshell membrane is primarily composed of fibrous [protein](/source/protein)s such as [collagen](/source/collagen) [type I](/source/Type_I_collagen).<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wong|first1=M.|last2=Hendrix|first2=M.J.|last3=van der Mark|first3=K.|last4=Little|first4=C.|last5=Stern|first5=R.|title=Collagen in the egg shell membranes of the hen|journal=Dev Biol|date=July 1984|volume=104|issue=1|pages=28–36|pmid=6203793|doi=10.1016/0012-1606(84)90033-2}}</ref> Eggshell membranes also contain [glycosaminoglycan](/source/glycosaminoglycan)s, such as [dermatan sulfate](/source/dermatan_sulfate), [chondroitin sulfate](/source/chondroitin_sulfate), and sulfated [glycoprotein](/source/glycoprotein)s including [hexosamines](/source/hexosamines), such as [glucosamine](/source/glucosamine). Other components identified in eggshell membranes are [hyaluronic acid](/source/hyaluronic_acid), [sialic acid](/source/sialic_acid), [desmosine](/source/desmosine), [isodesmosine](/source/isodesmosine), [ovotransferrin](/source/ovotransferrin), [lysyl oxidase](/source/lysyl_oxidase), [lysozyme](/source/lysozyme), and [β-N-acetylglucosaminidase](/source/beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase).<ref name=Glu>{{cite journal|last1=Ruff|first1=Kevin J.|last2=DeVore|first2=Dale P.|last3=Leu|first3=Michael D.|last4=Robinson|first4=Mark A.|title=Eggshell membrane: A possible new natural therapeutic|journal=Clinical Interventions in Aging|date=2009|volume=4|pages=235–240|pmc=2697588|pmid=19554094|doi=10.2147/cia.s5797 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Uses ==
Shell membrane is mainly used as a dietary supplement in a partially [hydrolyzed](/source/hydrolysis) powder form.<ref name=Glu/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Eggs}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Eggs as food
Category:Dietary supplements

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Eggshell membrane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggshell_membrane) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggshell_membrane?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.