Effects of Spirulina algae as a feed supplement on nutritional value and flavour components of silkie hens eggs

Abstract

Objective Silkie chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus brisson) is also named Chinese Taihe chicken, characterized by blue comb, green earlobes, black skin, meat and bones. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of spirulina feeding on the nutritive value and flavour of silkie hens eggs. Methods A total of 280 Silkie hens of 42 weeks old were fed 4 different diets, including basal diet and basal diet containing 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.5% spirulina. Each diet group was divided into 70 Silkie hens experimentally. The production performance of silkie hens, the nutritional compositions [e.g., amino acids (AAs) and fatty acids] and flavour substances of silkie hens eggs were compared with control. Results A 0.3% and 0.5% spirulina feeding significantly increased the average egg production rate and average egg weight, while only 0.3% spirulina feeding decreased both the average daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio of silkie hens compared with the controls (p < 0.05). The contents of crude protein, fat, cholesterol and Ca in silkie hens eggs were significantly increased by 0.3% spirulina feeding (p < 0.05). Only fat and cholesterol were significantly increased by 0.5% spirulina but had no significant difference compared with 0.3% spirulina. The flavour, amino acids/total AAs, and saturated fatty acids/unsaturated fatty acids in silkie hens eggs were significantly increased by 0.3% spirulina feeding than other groups (p < 0.05). A total of 46 volatile substances were identified in silkie hens eggs, and the substances of total acids, alkanes and aldehydes were significantly increased by 0.3% spirulina feeding. Conclusion Spirulina feeding at a proportion of 0.3% improved the production performance of silkie hens, and nutritive value and flavour of silkie hens eggs.

Hypocholesterolemic, Antioxidative, and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Dietary Spirulina platensisis Supplementation on Laying Hens Exposed to Cyclic Heat Stress

“…These events, therefore, may contribute to the linear improvement response found for increasing levels of SP on the productive aspects of laying hens. Our results agree with that reported in previous studies [ 66 , 67 ] that laying hens fed on SP had the best means of EP, EW and FCR compared to the control group.…”

Influence of Different Tetracycline Antimicrobial Therapy of Mycoplasma (Mycoplasma synoviae) in Laying Hens Compared to Tea Tree Essential Oil on Table Egg Quality and Antibiotic Residues

“…Egg nutritive and energetic values are much higher when compared to most other foods [6], including poultry meat [7]. A large boiled egg contains about 70 kcal energy, 5 g fat, of which 3.5 g is unsaturated (UFA) and 1.5 g is SFA [8]. Compared to sausages, hot dogs and other meat products this represents roughly 10% of the SFA content of the mentioned food animal products [9].…”

Transcriptome and proteome revealed the differences in 3 colors of earlobe in Jiangshan Black-bone chicken

“…Several studies have classified the peacock green earlobes of the Jiangshan black-bone chicken as blue earlobes ( Chen et al, 2019 ). By analogy with blue earlobes and blue skin, we hypothesize that the mechanism underlying earlobe color formation in the Jiangshan black-bone chicken may be similar to that of blue skin.…”

“…The earlobe color of Jiangshan black-bone chicken appears blueish to the naked eye, which is why most studies categorize it as a blue earlobe ( Chen et al, 2019 ). Currently, research on blue earlobes is limited, but blue skin has garnered more attention.…”