Abstract
The research aim was to determine the impacts of including alpha-linolenic acid, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, from plant sources in the laying hen diets on chemical and physical characteristics of the eggs. As many as 125 laying birds from Hy-Line Brown aged 54 weeks were housed in cages individually and treated to five experimental diets. The treatment of diets was prepared by adding a basal diet supplemented with purslane meal of 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8%. All layers were treated with diets for 4 weeks after a 7-days adaptation period, and ration and water were provided ad libitum. On day 28, a total of 25 eggs (n = five eggs for each diet) were taken to evaluate its chemical and physical quality. ANOVA was used for data evaluation, and further tests with Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test were used to analyze the differences among the mean of treatments. Results indicated that the chemical composition of laying eggs was not affected by adding diets with ALA. Then, the inclusion of purslane powder in the rations did not change the physical quality of laying eggs, including an index of Haugh Unit, egg index, and the index of yolk and albumen. Diets containing purslane meal improved the weight of yolk and albumen and yolk color intensity. It is concluded that brown laying hens which were fed diets added with purslane meal rich in ALA enhanced the physical qualities without affecting the egg chemical composition.
