Thymol feed supplementation in quail alters the percentages of nutritionally relevant egg yolk fatty acids: effects throughout incubation

FERNANDEZ M. E.; MARIN R. H.; LUNA, A.; ZUNINO, P.; LABAQUE, M. C.

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2017 vol. 97 p. 5233 - 5240

0022-5142

BACKGROUND: PUFA are crucialcomponents of the yolk and particularly prone to oxidative damage generatinglosses of nutrients for embryonic development and influencing the quality ofeggs for human consumption. We evaluated whether dietary thymol (a naturalantioxidant) is related to changes in quail egg yolk total, triglycerides andphospholipids fatty acid composition (T, TG, PL, respectively) at differentstages of embryo development. Thus, female Japanese quail (100d) were assignedto 1 of 2 dietary treatments (12 individuals each): CON (basal diet) or THY(0.042mol of thymol kg of basal diet-1). After 2 weeks ofsupplementation, eggs were incubated and samples were obtained at 0, 4 and 16dof embryonic development.RESULTS: In 0d-THY-eggs,alpha-linolenic acid and n-3 PUFA in T and TG, docosahexaenoic acid and PUFA inT, and arachidonic acid in TG were increased, while SFA in T was reduced. From4d on, PUFA, n-3 PUFA and SFA from T and TG in THY-eggs, were found similar toCON-eggs. The changes in PL throughout incubation were similar in both dietarytreatments.CONCLUSION: Thymol would providethe embryo with PUFA for synthesis/deposition in membranes and/or derive tosupply energy. Additionally, thymol supplementation would be advisable for theproduction of healthier table-eggs.