Abstract
: An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different levels of extracted pigment from Dietzia natronolimnaea biomass as a source of canthaxanthin in comparison with synthetic canthaxanthin on egg yolk pigmentation. The experiment used a completely randomized design (CRD). A total of 63 laying hens, 68 weeks old, were used and the birds were allotted to 7 dietary treatments with each treatment replicated three times with three hens per replicate. Treatments consisted of 3 levels of synthetic canthaxanthin (4, 8 and 16 ppm), 3 levels of extracted pigment from D. natronolimnaea biomass (4, 8 and 16 ppm) and control. Changes in yolk color were determined in 2 eggs taken at random, during the four week experimental period from each replicate. Supplementation of extracted pigment from D. natronolimnaea biomass had a significant effect on the color of egg yolks (p<0.05). Yolk color score of the control group was 6.83 in BASF color fan and the yolk color score of different extracted pigment levels was 11.00, 12.50 and 14.50, respectively. The yolk colors of different levels of synthetic canthaxanthin were 12.00, 14.00 and 15.00, respectively. The effect of pigment supplementation on egg yolk color was better explained by polynomial response curves. The R 2 indicated that for 3 supplementation levels of each pigment studied, over 90% of the color variation could be explained by the pigment concentration. The egg yolk color after 15 and 30 days of storage was not significantly different, but boiling reduced egg yolk color significantly (p<0.05).
Highlights
Egg yolk color is an important criterion for consumer's choice of eggs
Supplementation of extracted pigment from D. natronolimnaea biomass had a significant effect on the color of egg yolks (p
Color scores of egg yolks from treatments with extracted pigment from D. natronolimnaea biomass, at all levels, tested in this experiment, were higher compared with the ones observed in the control group
Summary
Egg yolk color is an important criterion for consumer's choice of eggs. Yolk color is named at third position under egg quality traits (Hernandez and Blanch, 2000a, b). With this regard, oxy-carotenoids, called xanthophylls, are used to color food products of animal origin. To achieve a golden yellow yolk color diets have to be supplemented with both yellow and red pigments (Kang et al, 2003). Canthaxanthin (4, 4’-diketo-β-carotene) is a ketocarotenoid found in certain animals, plants, and microorganisms (Bhosale and Bernstein, 2005), plus it is responsible for the orange-red color of egg yolk and the flesh of many marine animals (Nelis and De Leenheer, 1989) (Figure 1).
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