The tuna oil as ω-3 fatty acids source for egg of laying hens

Abstract

Fish oils are a source of polyunsaturated omega 3 fatty acids (AG ω3), mainly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which supply many benefits to human health. Tuna oil was used as a source of marine 3ω FA to enrich eggs by supplementing the diet of egg-laying hens with tuna oil. One hundred and twenty White Leghorn hens of 90 weeks old were allocated on three treatments with four replicates each, on a completely random design. Treatments consisted of adding 1 % and 2 % of tuna oil to the diets. The total lipids and ω3FA of the eggs were determined. The egg-laying hen dietary tuna oil supplement (1 and 2 %) enriched eggs with 300 % more EPA (0.40, 1.37, 1.54 mg/g lipids) and DHA (7.90, 24.67, 24.50 mg/g lipids) versus the control egg . The ω6:ω3 ratio decreased ( 11.4:1, 3.8:1, 3.0:1) as dietary tuna oil increased. There were no differences (p>0.05) among treatments in productive performance and egg quality, except egg weight which decreased with the tuna oil.