Effects of Green Tea Powder on Laying Performance and Egg Quality in Laying Hens

D Uuganbayar,I S Shin,C J Yang,J D Firman,I H Bae,K S Choi

doi:10.5713/ajas.2005.1769

Abstract

This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of feeding green tea powder on laying performance and egg quality in hens. A total 180 'Tetran Brown' laying hens aged 40 weeks were assigned to 6 treatments in a completely randomized design. Each treatment consisted of five replicates accommodating six layers per replication. The experimental diets were a negative control containing no green tea, a positive control diet containing antibiotics (0.05% chlortetracycline) and diets containing 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% green tea powder. Egg production rate of layers fed the diets containing green tea powder did not differ significantly from that of the negative and positive controls (p>0.05). Egg weight was decreased significantly in the group fed the diet containing 0.5% green tea powder (p-linolenic acids tended to increase in the group fed diets containing 1.5% green tea powder even though there were no significant differences among treatments (p>0.05). The oleic and docosahexaenoic acid contents of the egg yolk were similar among treatments (p>0.05). Based on the results of the experiment, it is concluded that green tea powder inclusion in the diet for layers at 2.0% level can reduce the cholesterol content and TBA value of the egg yolk, implying its potential effect on egg quality parameters.

Highlights

In recent days, consumers are interested in functional foods that can prevent or ameliorate adult diseases
The eggshell thickness of the layers fed diets containing green tea powder was significantly thinner than that of the negative control group (p0.05)
This result was similar to Yang et al (2003) who reported that eggshell thickness was reduced slightly when layers were fed diets containing 2.0 to 6.0% green tea by-product supplementations

Summary

Introduction

Consumers are interested in functional foods that can prevent or ameliorate adult diseases. Biswas et al (2000) reported that 0.6% Japanese green tea addition to layer diet had no effect on egg production rate of “White Leghorn” hens in a long term feeding experiment. There were no significant differences in feed conversion ratio among layers fed diets containing 1.0, 1.5% or 2.0% green tea powder and the control groups (p>0.05).

Objectives

Results

Conclusion