The essay assessed Borassus aethiopum (B.a) ripe fruits' dried pulp effect on egg yolk coloration. First, thirty-six Harco laying hens, 42 weeks old with similar weight (α=0.05) were allotted in 12 cages of 4m 2 (2m x 2m, respectively for length x width) each. Second, 4 laying hens' diets were formulated; a yellow corn-based diet (YC), a white corn-based diet (WC), a white corn-based diet supplemented with 10% of B.a mature fruits' dried pulp (WC+10%B.a), and finally a white corn-based diet supplemented with 20% of B.a ripe fruits' dried pulp (WC+10%B.a). During the evaluations, similar eggs for weights were analyzed. As a result, rich pigment diets formed a group and produced the heaviest egg yolk compared to the WC diet, for 13.94+0.16 g versus 13.64+0.16 g. Whereas, WC diet delivered the heaviest albumin weights, 31.92+0.33 g versus 29.27+0.33 g for WC+10%B.a which had the lightest weight. Looking at eggs' yolks color, Roche yolk color fan distinguished just 2 levels whose were the pale egg yolk from WC graded 1, and the intense colored yolks group graded 6. A spectrophotometer reflectance method helped for better yolks color distinctions. The yolks' yellow colors from WC+10%B.a (b*=52.29), WC+20%B.a (b*=52.49) and YC (b*=52.22) were similar (p=0.7278). But, the WC+10%B.a diet egg yolk color was significantly higher than that of WC (b*=20.70; p<0.0001). In conclusion, Borassus aethiopum mature fruits' dried pulp can be incorporated into laying hens feed as natural pigments' source.

Background and Objective: Because of a severe yellow corn shortage in Côte dʼIvoire in 2021, the study assessed Bixa orellana (B.o) grains and Curcuma longa (C.l) rhizomes powder effect on Coturnix coturnix japonica hens egg yolks colouration.Materials and Methods: First, two control diets were made of yellow corn (YC) and white corn (WC). Additionally, 10 diets were made by enriching the white corn-based diet with B.o grains and C.l rhizomes powders, at different incorporation rates. Second, three hundred sixty Coturnix coturnix japonica laying hens, 51 weeks old weighing 227.68±16.68 g, were randomly allotted to the 12 diets, with 10 birds in each, with 3 replications. Following, on the last day of week 8 (59 weeks old), the eggs were weighed. Then, three eggs of similar weights per diet were collected for analysis. To end, the eggs and their constituents were weighed and the yolksʼ colours were assessed through L*, a* and b* measurements. Results: First, the best egg weights were obtained with WC+1% B.o, WC+0.15% B.o+0.45% C.l and WC+0.6% B.o diets for 11.31±0.21, 11.10±0.12 and 11.06±0.12 g, respectively. Second, following the YC diet that performed 98.34±061 (p<0.0001), white corn-based diets containing natural carotenoid sources best egg yolk yellowness (b*) were obtained with WC+0.75% B.o+0.25% C.l and WC+1% B.o for 90.11±1.21 and 80.55±1.21 (p<0.0001). Thirdly, the total cholesterol lowest content with well-coloured egg yolk was obtained with WC+1% B.o for 18.60±3.47 mg per g of fresh yolk. The WC+1% B.o result was far away from that of the YC diet (32.58±1.74 mg/g, p<0.0001). Conclusion: White corn-based diets can be beneficially enriched with 1% of Bixa orellana grainsʼ powders for Coturnix coturnix japonica hens egg yolks colouration.