Quantitative proteomic analysis reveals the role of tea polyphenol EGCG in egg whites in response to vanadium stress.

•Vanadium induced lower albumen quality but the mechanism is still not elucidated.•Proteomic alteration of egg albumen from tea polyphenol and vanadium feeding layers were analyzed and indicated 379 proteins and 28 differential proteins with and without epigallo-catechin-3-gallate (EGCG) under vanadium (V) exposure.•Eight proteins, responding to stress stimuli (including five immune response proteins, one cell redox homeostasis protein, two cell proliferation proteins and one heavy metal binding protein), were presented in the laying hens in EGCG treatment.•The detoxification mechanisms of EGCG under V stress act by mediating metal-binding, cell proliferation and immune function-related protein expression to cause cellular apoptosis in magnum to increase albumen quality.•These results help reveal the quantitative proteome pattern for EGCG under V stress and provide protein-level insights into the EGCG-mediated V detoxification process in laying hens.