Effect of the dietary combination of flaxseed and Ricinodendron heudelotii or Punica granatum seed oil on the fatty acid profile of eggs

The Egg Yolk Content in ω-3 and Conjugated Fatty Acids Can Be Sustainably Increased upon Long-Term Feeding of Laying Hens with a Diet Containing Flaxseeds and Pomegranate Seed Oil

“…The results obtained on the enrichment of eggs in n-3 PUFA, RmA and PunA are in agreement with our previous reported results and others [20,29]. The amount of ALA and DHA deposition in eggs through the inclusion of flaxseeds in the FS-PSO diet was significantly improved, while a lower level of ALA intake supplied by the F-OL diet led to the accumulation of much less ALA and DHA in eggs, with no variation with the duration of feeding.…”

“…Sixty-six 5-month-old red Sex-Link hens obtained from the Limal poultry farm (Wavre, Belgium) were housed in floor pens maintained under controlled temperature and lighting conditions as described previously [20], and fed with a standard feed for egg-producing hens (Aveve, Leuven, Belgium). At 7 months of age, the hens were randomly divided into two separate lots, and assigned to two different diets (33 hens/diet).…”

“…GC analysis was performed using a Trace 1310 GC (ThermoFisher scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) equipped with an RT2560 capillary column (100 m × 0.25 mm, 0.2 µm film thickness) (Restek, Lisses, France), an automatic injector and a flame ionization detector (FID) set at 255 • C. Samples were injected with hydrogen as carrier gas at a constant pressure of 200 kPa into the column programed for ramped oven temperatures as described previously [20]. FAME were identified by comparing their retention times to authentic standards of known composition (Larodan, Solna, Sweden).…”

“…A ∆13-reductase activity allowing the conversion of certain CLnA into CLA has been found in animal and human tissues [17][18][19]. We have previously shown that dietary sources of CLnA such as pomegranate seed oil (PSO), high in punicic acid (PunA, C18:3c9,t11,c13), supplemented in the hen's diet allowed a considerable increase in the egg content of PunA, as well as rumenic acid (RmA, C18:2c9,t11), an omega-7 CLA [20]. Thus, feeding laying hens with diets containing CLnA is a means for incorporating both CLA and CLnA into the egg yolk fat.…”

“…In a previous study, we reported the effect of the dietary combination of flaxseeds and PSO on the fatty acid profile of eggs during a short period of the laying cycle (12 to 21 days) using a reduced number of individually housed hens (4 hens/diet) [20]. For the current study, the objective was to determine the performance of the hens, and the incorporation of fatty acids in the egg yolk over a fairly long production period (26 weeks) under regular conditions of an egg production unit, with a larger number of hens housed in the same pen.…”