Alleviating Protein Deficiency In Nigeria: The Quail Egg Alternative

Abstract

The potentials of quail egg in human diet were evaluated among 44 randomly selected respondents in VOM, Plateau State. Proximate analysis indicated that quail egg has a high crude protein content of 18.2%. The findings further revealed that quail egg consumption spread across all age ranges and gender. Marital status was no barrier to quail egg consumption. Majority of the quail egg consumers were Christians (79.4%) and low-income earners (52.9%) with 58.8% consuming it for its affordability, 29.4% (for its taste) and 11.8% (for Nutritive value). Quail egg ranked 3rd position in preference to other egg types, local chicken egg (4th), Guinea fowl egg (2nd), and exotic chicken egg (1st). The survey also revealed that quail egg was cheapest in comparison to other egg types at N3.33k/egg (N100 / crate), local chicken egg and guinea fowl egg at N10.00k/egg, (N300/crate) while exotic chicken egg cost N15/egg (N450/crate). It is therefore recommended that, there should be adequate co-operation between researchers and commercial quail breeders, while government policies in food security should take into cognisance, the great potentials in quail rearing (particularly the egg) because of its very high nutritive value, excellent taste and economy of production. Keywords : Protein deficiency, quail, egg Journal of Agriculture, Forestry and the Social Sciences Vol. 4 (2) 2006: pp. 6-12