Krill Meal Enhances Antioxidant Levels and n-3 Fatty Acid Content of Egg Yolk from Laying Hens Fed a Low-Pigment Diet

This study was conducted to determine effects of krill meal supplementation on production performance, egg quality, antioxidant substances, and fatty acid composition of egg yolk from hens fed a low-pigment diet. A total of 640 laying hens (Lohmann Brown), which were each 25 weeks old, were divided into 4 dietary treatment groups. Each treatment consisted of 8 replications with 20 laying hens per replication. The treatments were corn-soybean meal basal diet (CS), CS with 7.5% cassava meal (low-pigment; LP), and LP with 1.5 or 3% krill meal. All dietary treatments were formulated to be isocaloric (2,750 kcal/kg metabolizable energy) and isonitrogenous (17.5% crude protein). Birds were raised in an evaporative cooling system house for 8 weeks (25–33 weeks of age). Water was provided ad libitum and feed was provided according to breed requirement recommendations. The LP diets supplemented with krill meal had no effect on production performance and egg quality compared to those of the CS group (P>0.05). However, the LP diet caused a significant reduction in yolk color score, and astaxanthin, vitamin A, and vitamin E contents of egg yolk (P<0.05). However, the contents of these nutrients increased as the level of krill meal was increased in the diets (P<0.05). The highest yolk color score, and astaxanthin, vitamin A, and vitamin E contents were observed in laying hens fed 3% krill meal (P<0.05). The LP diet had no effect on n-3 fatty acid content; however, a significant reduction in the content of n-6 fatty acids, especially linoleic acid was observed (P<0.05). Further reduction occurred when higher level of krill was used in the diets (P<0.05). An increase in krill meal level significantly increased docosahexaenoic acid but not linolenic acid content of egg yolk. Krill meal, therefore, could be used to produce docosahexaenoic acid and antioxidant enriched eggs.