Dietary mulberry-leaf flavonoids improve the eggshell quality of aged breeder hens

Positive effects of Mulberry leaf extract on egg quality, lipid metabolism, serum biochemistry, and antioxidant indices of laying hens

“…One study found that yolk weight, eggshell weight, eggshell strength, eggshell thickness, yolk color, and Haugh units increased in all MLE supplemented groups after adding 1% MLE to the diet of laying hens (16), which is consistent with the results of our present experiment, where adding MLE the diet caused egg quality-related indicators to be affected linearly and quadratically. The addition of mulberry leaf flavonoids to the diet enhanced eggshell strength by increasing the antioxidant capacity of the uterine shell gland and calcium deposition (significantly upregulating the expression of related genes, namely ESRpha, ESRbeta, KCNA1, OPN, CABP-28K, and CDH6) (18). In this current study, adding MLE to the diet improved shell strength and yolk color on days 28 and 56.…”

“…It was found that 4 mg of mulberry leaf polysaccharide supplement fed to chicks vaccinated against Newcastle disease virus triggered an immune response and resulted in high levels of antibodies for several weeks post vaccination (17). The addition of 60 mg/kg mulberry leaf flavonoids to the diet of older breeders improved eggshell thickness and shell strength by affecting calcium transport in the shell glands (18). As of now, mulberry leaf extract is primarily used in vitro or on rats, with relatively few animal production studies and even fewer studies on laying hens.…”

Effects of Astragalus, Epimedium, and Fructus Ligustri Lucidi extractive on antioxidant capacity, production performance, and immune mechanism of breeding pigeons under stress

“…Calcium is the main component of eggshell. The quality of eggshell formation directly depends on absorption and the utilization of calcium by layers ( Huang et al, 2022 ). Recent studies have shown that trace elements (manganese, zinc) and feed additives and plant extracts can regulate eggshell quality ( Lokaewmanee et al, 2013 ; Boka et al, 2014 ; Zhang et al, 2017 ).…”

Protective Application of Morus and Its Extracts in Animal Production

“…In addition, mulberry leaf flavonoids enhanced the fatty acid oxidation by un-regulating the expression of PPARα and CPT-I in the liver. Huang et al [ 87 ] also showed that the dietary mulberry leaf flavonoids could effectively improve the antioxidative activity and Ca deposition in the uterus shell gland, providing a new method to improve the quality of aged hens’ eggshells. Molecular studies showed that the mulberry leaf flavonoid treatment activated the Nrf2 signaling pathway, thus having a protective effect on the shell gland damage caused by aging.…”