The effect of soy isoflavones on egg quality and bone mineralisation during the late laying period of quail

Abstract

1. Soy isoflavones play a role in calcium and bone metabolism. Poor egg quality, skeletal abnormalities and architectural deterioration of bone tissue are common problems under hot climate conditions and with increased age in poultry. 2. In this study, we investigated the effects of soy isoflavone supplementation on egg production, egg quality, bone mineral density (BMD), levels of osteocalcin (OC), vitamin D, calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) during the late laying period. 3. The birds (n = 180; 28 weeks old) were randomly assigned to 6 treatment groups consisting of 6 replicates of 5 birds each in a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement of treatments (temperatures, soy isoflavone concentration). Birds were kept in wire cages in a temperature-controlled room at either 22 degrees C (thermo-neutral, TN) or 34 degrees C (heat stress, HS) for 8 h/d (09:00 to 17:00 h; until the end of the study) and fed either on a basal (control) diet or on the basal diet supplemented with either 400 or 800 mg of soy isoflavones/kg of diet. 4. Heat exposure reduced feed intake, egg production, egg quality, BMD, OC, vitamin D, Ca, P and ALP when the basal diet was given. Feed intake, egg production and egg weight were not affected, while eggshell thickness and eggshell weight increased in soy isoflavone-supplemented quails reared under TN conditions. However, feed intake, egg production, egg weight, eggshell thickness, eggshell weight and Haugh units were positively influenced by soy isoflavone supplementation in HS groups for quail during the late laying period. Bone mineral density, serum OC, vitamin D, Ca, P levels and ALP activity were significantly improved by soy isoflavone supplementation in both the TN and HS groups in quail during the late laying period. 5. Soy isoflavone supplementation of basal diet significantly improved egg quality and bone mineralisation in quail during the late laying period.

Effects of High-Dose Daidzein on Laying Performance, Egg Quality and Antioxidation in Laying Hens

“…This result is in agreement with the results of the study by Ni et al (2007) on daidzein in which daidzein supplement significantly increased the eggshell thickness, and decreased the percentage of cracked eggs. Sahin et al(2007) also found that soy isoflavone supplementation could significantly improve bone mineral density, serum osteocalcin, vitamin D, calcium, phosphorus levels and alkaline phosphatase activity in quail during the late laying period.…”

Effect of dietary coenzyme Q10 supplementation on serum and bone minerals and leg weakness mortality in broilers

“…The extent of bone mineralization affects bone strength [2] and poor mineralization leads to increased risk of fractures [3]. Skeletal abnormalities and architectural deterioration of bone tissue are common under hot climatic conditions because a high environmental temperature leads to more excretion of minerals like calcium, iron, zinc and lower retention rates of minerals like calcium, phosphorus, sodium, manganese, copper and zinc resulting in decreased bone strength of broilers [4][5][6][7].Heat stress has deleterious effects on the skeletal system by decreasing length and widths of tibia, and by promoting mineralization which in turn reduces bone strength [8]. Rapid growth followed by high nutrient intake with energy high diet alone can cause severe lameness, bone defects, and deformity [9].…”

“…Calcium absorption is increased by CoQ10 supplementation [11,12]. The dietary antioxidant supplementation decreased the mineral excretion in hot climatic condition in broilers [4]. CoQ10 is a lipophilic antioxidant and its supplement reduces the oxidative stress and increased the enzymatic antioxidant activity [13].…”

The Effects of Dietary Soybean Fermented with Aspergillus oryzae or Bacillus natto on Egg Production and Egg Lipid Composition in Layer

“…In addition, Sahin et al (2007) reported that dietary ISF improved feed intake, egg production and egg quality in heat stressed quail, but the effects were not observed for those raised under thermo-neutral environment. Hence, those observations may be attributed to antioxidative effects rather than estrogenic effects of ISF.…”

“…It has been demonstrated that inclusion of FSB in diets of broiler chicken (Feng et al, 2007a;Mathivanan et al, 2006), Japanese quail (Chah et al, 1976), and neonatal pig (Zamora and Veum, 1988) improved ADG and FE. Recent studies (Jiang et al, 2007;Sahin et al, 2007) have shown that the antioxidant and estrogenic activity of isoflavones (ISF) improved animal performance after animals were given FSB. As antioxidants, ISF may also pro-tect low density lipoprotein (LDL) from oxidation (Wei et al, 1995) and may exert its anti-atherogenic effects (Anthony et al, 1995).…”