Abstract
A mixture of three dietary medicinal herb extracts (MHE, mulberry leaf:Japanese honeysuckle:goldthread = 48.5: 48.5:3.0) was prepared as an additive of hen's feed. One hundred-eight, 28-wk-old Lohmann Brown hens were assigned randomly with three levels of MHE in the diet (0, 0.3, and 1%). Hens were fed for 6 wks and eggs were collected in the 6th week, and stored at 4°C for 14 days to investigate the effect of MHE on the quality and oxidative stability of eggs. Internal quality of the egg including weight, shell color, albumen height, yolk color, shell weight, shell thickness, and Haugh units was not different among the dietary treatments. The oxidation stability of raw and cooked egg was determined by 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzonthianoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS + ) radical reducing ability. Results indicated that TBARS value at day 0 and ABTS + radical reducing ability of eggs from hens fed MHE were higher than from the control group. However, DPPH radical scavenging activity showed no difference in both raw and cooked samples. Results of the present study indicate that dietary MHE may slightly enhance the oxidative stability of eggs.
Highlights
Antibiotics have been supplemented to animal to improve growth performance and protect animals from the adverse effects of pathogenic and non-pathogenic enteric microorganisms (Dahiya et al, 2006)
Preparation of medicinal herb extract mix (MHE) Mulberry leaf, Japanese honeysuckle and goldthread were purchased from Kyung-dong herbal market (Seoul, Korea)
Hong et al (2001) reported that egg weight, egg shell breaking strength, and egg shell thickness were not influenced by the supplementation of Korean medicinal herb residue into diet of heat stressed laying hens and agreed well with the present result
Summary
Antibiotics have been supplemented to animal to improve growth performance and protect animals from the adverse effects of pathogenic and non-pathogenic enteric microorganisms (Dahiya et al, 2006). The use of therapeutic antibiotics in animal feed is not approved due to chances of development of antibiotic resistant microbes. Various studies have been conducted to use plants and herbs as alternative of synthetic antibiotics. Herbs are identified to enhance antimicrobial, antiviral, and antioxidative activities and to simulate the endocrine and immune system (Dahiya et al, 2006). Herbs or their extracts having antioxidative properties are frequently used to improve quality and shelf life of meat products (Vichi et al, 2001), turkey meat (Botsoglou et al, 2007), and egg yolk (Botsoglou et al, 2005).
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