Effect of Fermented Soybean “Natto” Supplement on Egg Production and Qualities

K Fujiwara,H Abe,A Toyoda,Y Miyaguchi,M Yamazaki,Y Nakamura,K Nakashima

doi:10.5713/ajas.2008.70654

Abstract

: Natto is a Japanese traditional soybean product fermented by Bacillus natto. The effects of dried fermented soybean (natto) supplement on egg production and egg qualities of layer chickens was studied with regard to the effective use of various waste foods in Japan. Dried natto, prepared by heating at 60°C, was added to a basic diet at a level of up to 3%. Forty 166-wk-old layer chickens (Rhode Island Red) were randomly divided into 4 groups and five layer chickens were used in each group with two replicates. Layer chickens in group 1 were fed a basic diet as the control. The remaining 3 groups were fed the basic diet supplemented with dried natto at levels of 1, 2, and 3% (w/w), respectively. The result did not show improvements in egg production or feed conversion ratio of layer chickens even when 3% dried natto was added to the control diet. The egg qualities including egg weight, eggshell strength and thickness, yolk color, yolk weight, albumen height, and Haugh unit were also not improved. However, the feeding of dried natto changed the cholesterol content in the egg yolk. The supplementation of dried natto showed the tendency to decrease the yolk cholesterol after 12-wk of feeding compared to the control diet though it did not change plasma cholesterol levels in the blood. On the other hand, yolk cholesterol decreased significantly after 12-wk of feeding 3% dried natto (p<0.05).

Highlights

Fermentation processes have long been used to prepare traditional soybean foods in Far East Asia including “Doubanjiang” in China, “Duenjang” in Korea, and “Miso” in Japan, (Hong et al, 2004)
Natto is a traditional Japanese health food prepared using soybean fermented by Bacillus subtilis var natto (Bacillus natto), which is a Gram-positive spore-forming bacterium (Ashiuchi et al, 1998)
No significant effect of natto on egg production was observed in the periods from weeks 1 to 11

Summary

Introduction

Fermentation processes have long been used to prepare traditional soybean foods in Far East Asia including “Doubanjiang” in China, “Duenjang” in Korea, and “Miso” in Japan, (Hong et al, 2004). Natto is a traditional Japanese health food prepared using soybean fermented by Bacillus subtilis var natto (Bacillus natto), which is a Gram-positive spore-forming bacterium (Ashiuchi et al, 1998). Supplementation of beneficial microorganisms has attracted interest recently. The continued use of dietary antibiotics has resulted in common problems such as the development of drug resistant bacteria (Sorum and Sumde, 2001), imbalance of normal microflora (Andermont, 2000), and drug residues in the body (Burgat, 1991). As a result of these problems, it has become necessary to develop alternatives using beneficial microorganisms. A probiotic is a live microbial feed supplement that beneficially affects the host animal by improving its intestinal microbial

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