Abstract
Chicken eggs provide essential nutrients to consumers around the world. Although both genetic and environmental factors influence the quality of eggs, it is unclear how these factors affect the egg traits including egg metabolites. In this study, we investigated breed and feed effects on 10 egg traits, using two breeds (Rhode Island Red and Australorp) and two feed conditions (mixed feed and fermented feed). We also used gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS) to analyze 138 yolk and 132 albumen metabolites. Significant breed effects were found on yolk weight, eggshell weight, eggshell colors, and one albumen metabolite (ribitol). Three yolk metabolites (erythritol, threitol, and urea) and 12 albumen metabolites (erythritol, threitol, ribitol, linoleic acid, isoleucine, dihydrouracil, 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid, alanine, glycine, N-butyrylglycine, pyruvic acid, and valine) were significantly altered by feed, and a significant interaction between breed and feed was discovered in one albumen metabolite (N-butyrylglycine). Yolk and albumin had higher levels of sugar alcohols when hens were fed a fermented diet, which indicates that sugar alcohol content can be transferred from diet into eggs. Linoleic acid was also enriched in albumen under fermented feed conditions. This study shows that yolk and albumen metabolites will be affected by breed and feed, which is the first step towards manipulating genetic and environmental factors to create “designer eggs.”
Highlights
80 million tons of chicken eggs are produced every year, and they are a crucial source of animal protein in many developing countries [1,2]
This study was designed to test the effects of breed and feed on 10 egg traits, 138 yolk metabolite traits, and 132 albumen metabolite traits, in Rhode Island Red (RIR)/AUS hens fed with either mixed feed or fermented feed
Three yolk metabolites and 12 albumen metabolites were significantly altered by feed, and a significant interaction between breed and feed affected levels of one albumen metabolite
Summary
80 million tons of chicken eggs are produced every year, and they are a crucial source of animal protein in many developing countries [1,2]. Huge scientific effort is devoted to modifying agricultural produce traits to create “designer foods” [6]; eggs are no exception, and considerable effort is currently underway to modify egg traits and produce “designer eggs” to meet consumer demand [7,8]. Both genetic and environmental factors influence the quantity and quality of eggs [9,10,11]
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