Dietary effect of Moringa oleifera on native laying hens’ egg quality, cholesterol and fatty-acid profile

Abstract

This study examined the effects of dietary incorporation of Moringa oleifera leaf (MOL) meal in the diet of native laying chickens on the quality, yolk cholesterol and fatty-acid profile of eggs. One hundred twenty-eight birds were split into four dietary groups, with 32 birds in each group, comprising four replications with eight birds per replication. The experiment lasted 16 weeks and was conducted at the open houses shed in the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute. The four dietary treatments were formulated using basal feed as follows: control (T 1), MOL 0.5% (T 2), MOL 1.0% (T 3) and MOL 1.5% (T 4). The quality, weight, length and width of eggs were not altered by the addition of MOL to the diet. Yolk colour and eggshell breaking strength were significantly higher in the additive groups. The results showed that dietary addition of MOL meal significantly reduced serum, total cholesterol and triglyceride content compared to the control. Feeding MOL at 1 and 1.5% increased ɷ-3 fatty-acid levels by 1.35 and 1.46%, respectively. Overall, the results indicate that the addition of 1.5% MOL to layer feed could be an effective way to improve egg quality and fatty-acid profile and reduce cholesterol in egg yolk. HIGHLIGHTS Addition of Moringa oleifera leaves (MOL) in native laying hens basal diet improves egg quality. ɷ–3 fatty-acid composition in yolk was enriched. Serum and yolk cholesterol levels in hens were significantly reduced (p < .05) in all additive groups.