Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the internal quality of eggs of Japanese quails fed diets supplemented with chelated selenium and zinc. The experiment was carried out for 120 days, and 144 birds were divided in random blocks into four treatments (control; 0.3 ppm Se; 60 ppm Zn and 0.3 ppm Se + 60 ppm Zn). Ten, 14, 18, and 22 weeks after the beginning of lay, eggs were collected and stored under two different temperatures (environmental temperature or refrigeration) and for 10, 20, and 30 days. Eggs were analyzed for: Haugh units (HU), albumen height (AH), yolk index (YI), and albumen index (AI). Parameters were only statistically influenced by the interaction between dietary treatment and storage time. It was concluded that the addition of organic Se and Zn influenced internal egg quality when eggs were stored up to 20 days, independently of storage temperature, suggesting that the combined supplementation of organic Se and Zn improve internal egg quality and extend egg shelf life.
Highlights
According to Souza et al (2001) and Turatti (2001), eggs have high nutritional values, and are one of the alternatives to solve malnutrition problems in Latin America
According to Scott and Silversides (2000) and Carvalho et al (2007), the higher the yolk index, the lower is albumen index and height, and this tends to get worse as storage temperature increases and as birds age
This may be due to deficient supply of Zn and Se in the experimental because no optimal recommendations of these trace minerals for quails reared under Brazilian climate conditions were found in literature
Summary
According to Souza et al (2001) and Turatti (2001), eggs have high nutritional values, and are one of the alternatives to solve malnutrition problems in Latin America. Fat, minerals, and vitamins, and have low calorie content and low cost, and are considered as one of the most reliable sources of these compounds (Stadelman, 1999). Due to their high biological value, egg proteins are used as standard when measuring the nutritional quality of food proteins (Sakanaka et al, 2000). In average, 74.6% humidity; 13.1% protein; 1.1% minerals, and 11.2% lipids (Panda & Singh, 1990), and calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A and energy contents per 100g are 59mg, 220mg, 3.8mg, 300IU and 158kcal, respectively. The consumption of six quail eggs (10g/egg) per day, which is equivalent to one chicken egg (60g), supplies 4.4, 16.5, and 22.8% of the daily requirements of calcium, phosphorus, and iron, respectively, of children between one and six years of age, considering the daily average consumption of calcium and phosphorus (800mg) and iron (10mg) as recommended by the NRC (1994)
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