Astaxanthin Z‐isomer‐rich diets enhance egg yolk pigmentation in laying hens compared to that in all‐E‐isomer‐rich diets

• Published in: Animal science journal Vol. 92; no. 1; pp. e13512 - n/a
• Main Authors: Honda, Masaki, Kawashima, Yuki, Hirasawa, Kazuaki, Uemura, Takeshi, Sun, Jinkun, Hayashi, Yoshiaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.2021
• Subjects: Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena - physiology; Animals; Astaxanthin; Bioavailability; Biological Availability; Chickens - metabolism; Chickens - physiology; Color; Diet; Diet - veterinary; Dietary Supplements; E/Z‐Isomerization; egg yolk; Egg Yolk - drug effects; Egg Yolk - metabolism; Eggs; Female; Food Quality; Heat treatment; Isomerism; Isomers; Paracoccus carotinifaciens; Pigmentation; Pigmentation - drug effects; Pigmentation - physiology; Poultry; Ratios; Xanthophylls - administration & dosage; Xanthophylls - blood; Xanthophylls - chemistry; Xanthophylls - metabolism; Yolk; Paracoccus carotinifaciens; E/Z-Isomerization; bioavailability; egg yolk; astaxanthin
• ISSN: 1344-3941; 1740-0929
• DOI: 10.1111/asj.13512

The effects of feeding diets containing astaxanthin with different Z‐isomer ratios to laying hens on egg qualities, such as astaxanthin concentration in egg yolk and yolk color, were investigated. As the astaxanthin source, a natural microorganism Paracoccus carotinifaciens was used. Astaxanthin with different Z‐isomer ratios was prepared by thermal treatment with different conditions and then added to the basal diet at a final astaxanthin concentration of 8 mg/kg. We found that, as the Z‐isomer ratios of astaxanthin in the diet increased, the astaxanthin concentration in egg yolk and the yolk color fan score also increased significantly. Importantly, feeding a 50.6% Z‐isomer ratio diet increased astaxanthin concentration in egg yolk by approximately fivefold and the color fan score by approximately 2 compared to that in hens fed an all‐E‐isomer‐rich diet. Moreover, we showed that feeding Z‐isomer‐rich astaxanthin to laying hens increased plasma astaxanthin concentration by more than five times in comparison to that in hens fed an all‐E‐isomer‐rich diet. These results indicate that Z‐isomers of astaxanthin have higher bioavailability than that of the all‐E‐isomer and thus they exhibit greater egg yolk‐accumulation efficiency.