Glycerol Monolaurate Enhances Reproductive Performance, Egg Quality and Albumen Amino Acids Composition in Aged Hens with Gut Microbiota Alternation

Abstract

<jats:p>As it is known to all that the laying rate of commercial laying hens is significantly decreased during the late laying period, paralleled with increased feed conversion rate (FCR) and declined egg quality. However, recent studies demonstrate that reproductive performance as well as egg quality in aged hens can be largely improved by feed supplements. Among them, glycerol monolaurate (GML), a monoglyceride of medium chain fatty acids, is regarded as a promising supplement in poultry production. The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of dietary GML on laying performance, serum biochemical indices, egg quality and gut microbiota in hens during 40–64 weeks of age. A total of 378 (40-week-old) Hy-Line Brown laying hens were randomly assigned into three treatments (21 hens/replicate and 6 replicates/treatment). The control group received a basal diet, and the treated groups fed basal diets containing 150 and 300 mg/kg GML. The results revealed that laying rate (p &lt; 0.05) was significantly increased and the FCR (p &lt; 0.05) was reduced in GML-containing groups compared with the control group. The egg quality (including eggshell thickness and strength) was notably improved by GML supplementation at the later late laying period, and the content of total amino acids and flavor amino acids in the albumen were also increased. Inclusion of 300 mg/kg GML in diet increased the levels of laying-related sex hormones (serum follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and estradiol, p &lt; 0.05), serum calcium and lipid (total serum cholesterol, triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, p &lt; 0.05). Moreover, the community and microbial function of gut microbiota were notably altered by GML supplementation. These findings revealed that dietary GML improved the reproductive performance and egg quality mainly by stimulating the sex hormones secretion, serum calcium metabolism and nutrients utilization, which provided us a new approach to simultaneously promote the egg production and improve the egg quality at aged hens.</jats:p>

Dietary medium-chain α-monoglycerides increase BW, feed intake, and carcass yield in broilers with muscle composition alteration

“…Flame ionization detector temperature and injector oven temperature was set at 250°C and 230°C, respectively. The temperature program of the oven was the same as that of our previous study ( Liu et al., 2020 ). Certified reference standard (37 components mix, Stock No.…”

“…Then, the solution was filtered through a 0.22-μm membrane filter and 10 μL was injected to HPLC (Waters e2695; Waters Corporation, Milford, MA) equipped with a column (Ultimate AQ-C18, 4.6 mm × 250 mm × 5 μm; Welch Co., Shanghai, China). Identification and quantification of amino acids was aided with certified reference standard ( Gheshlaghi et al., 2008 ; Liu et al., 2020 ).…”

“…Medium-chain fatty acids ( MCFA ) are a group of aliphatic acids with 8 to 12 carbon atoms and naturally occur in edible fats such as coconut oil and milk fat, which have been considered as safe and green ingredients in the food industry ( Dayrit, 2015 ). Recent studies reveal that MCFA and corresponding glycerides exert positive effect on productive performance, feed utilization, intestinal development, serum parameters, and meat and egg quality in the poultry industry ( Wang et al., 2015 ; Zeitz et al., 2015 ; Khatibjoo et al., 2017 ; Zhao et al., 2019 ; Liu et al., 2020 ). Among them, medium-chain α-monoglycerides ( MG ) are regarded as promising feed supplements for broilers production.…”

Effect of Dietary Medium-Chain α-Monoglycerides on the Growth Performance, Intestinal Histomorphology, Amino Acid Digestibility, and Broiler Chickens’ Blood Biochemical Parameters

“…In poultry production, MCFA and related glycerides have apparent effects on production performance and egg quality [ 18 , 19 ]. Medium-chain α-monoglycerides are auspicious feed additives for the broilers industry.…”

Medium-chain α-monoglycerides improves productive performance and egg quality in aged hens associated with gut microbiota modulation

“…Moreover, the egg quality is also rapidly decreased with enlarged egg size, thinner eggshell, higher broken rate, decreased albumen height, shortened shelf time, and poor flavor associated with poor feed nutrient utilization and health status of aged hens ( Kim et al., 2014 ; Liu et al., 2018 ). Recently, many research studies have documented that some feed supplements such as rubber seed oil ( Wen et al., 2019 ), peppermint ( Abdel-Wareth and Lohakare, 2014 ), tea polyphenol ( Wang et al., 2018 ), flaxseed oil ( Lee et al., 2015 ), and glycerol monolaurate ( GML ) ( Liu et al., 2020 ) are able to enhance feed efficiency, egg production, and egg quality in hens, which provide us a novel and effective approach to this problem.…”