The effects of dietary garlic powder on performance, egg yolk and serum cholesterol concentrations in laying quails

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of garlic powder on the performance, egg traits, egg cholesterol and serum parameters of laying Japanese quails. One hundred and twenty 10-weeks-old quails were allocated to four dietary treatments. Quails were caged individually and fed diets supplemented with 0 (control), 1, 2, 4% garlic powder for 12 weeks. There were significant (P < 0.05) differences among the diets in feed consumption, feed efficiency and egg production as averaged over 12 weeks. The better values for these parameters were obtained from the 1% garlic powder supplemented group. Garlic powder addition did not significantly affect egg yolk index, egg shell weight and egg shell thickness. However, there were significant differences (P < 0.05) in egg albumen index, egg shell index and Haugh unit. There was a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in the egg yolk cholesterol concentration when the dietary level of garlic powder was increased from 0 to 4 g/kg. Plasma high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations increased (P < 0.05) with increasing levels of dietary garlic powder. Plasma cholesterol (P < 0.05) and tri-glyceride (P < 0.05) concentration decreased with garlic powder supplementation. It was concluded that garlic powder in the diet of laying quails reduced the plasma and egg yolk cholesterol concentration.