Abstract
Natural and chemical colorants are attracting a lot of attention as sustainable feed additives due to their effect on food color and because presentation matters to consumers. Color also is a major sensory factor that helps consumers determine food quality and its possible health benefits. For example, highly colored egg yolks can only come from healthy laying hens fed a well-balanced, nutrient-rich diet. Consumers associate an intense yolk color with healthy, nutrient-rich food. There is a growing market request for eggs with rich yolk coloring. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the impact of natural (paprika) and chemical (carmoisine) colorant supplementation on the performance, egg-quality characteristics, yolk fatty-acid profile, and blood constituents in laying hens. A total of 240 Bovans laying hens were randomly distributed in a completely randomized design in four treatments according to four experimental diets: a control diet (without supplementation of any colorants), a control diet supplemented with 4 kg/ton paprika, a control diet supplemented with 150 g carmoisine/ton, and a control diet supplemented with a combination of 4 kg/ton paprika plus 150 g carmoisine/ton, fed from 42 to 54 weeks of age. Each treatment consisted of 10 replications with six hens. Dietary inclusion of paprika colorant improved (p < 0.05) the feed-conversion ratio and egg-production rate, while final body weight, weight change, feed intake, and egg weight and mass were not affected. The degrees of egg yolk and white were increased (p < 0.05) by the dietary supplements. Yolk color and shell thickness were enhanced (p < 0.05) by adding paprika and/or carmoisine colorants. Supplementation of the paprika colorant alone or in combination with carmoisine increased (p < 0.05) linolenic acid, oleic acid, and vitamin E concentrations in egg yolks. In contrast, egg yolk palmitic acid and liver malondialdehyde contents were decreased (p < 0.05). Paprika and carmoisine colorants and their combination improved (p < 0.05) blood lipid profile in treated hens. We concluded that the dietary supplementation of natural (paprika) colorants has an influential role in improving egg yolk color, production performance, and egg yolk fatty-acid profile in laying hens.
Highlights
As the world’s population grows, demand for eggs will continue to rise
The first group was fed the basal diet and considered as a control; the second group was fed a control diet supplemented with 4 kg/ton paprika; the third group received the basal diet supplemented with 150 g carmoisine/ton feed, and the fourth group was fed a control diet supplemented with 4 kg/ton paprika plus 150 g carmoisine/ton feed
Dietary supplements of natural colorants improved (p < 0.05) FCR and egg production rate compared with other treatments
Summary
As the world’s population grows, demand for eggs will continue to rise To meet this demand sustainably will be a big challenge because of the high cost of yellow corn in different countries, which will push farmers to use white corn in layer diets, which will affect yolk color. Eggs are an excellent source of nutrients and have antibacterial, antiviral, anticancer, and many other mediators that play a role in the immune system and are very important for human health and disease prevention [1]. Egg appearance characteristics, such as shape, transparency, and color, influence egg consumers’ choices [2]. Different factors can be considered to determine the quality of eggs, but the three essential characteristics of shell, white, and yolk, which can be changed in terms of quantity, can be the most critical factors in determining egg quality [3]
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