Effect of Dietary Amaranth (Amaranthus hybridus chlorostachys) Supplemented with Enzyme Blend on Egg Quality, Serum Biochemistry and Antioxidant Status in Laying Hens

Hossein Janmohammadi; Babak Hosseintabar-Ghasemabad; Majid Oliyai; Sadegh Alijani; Ivan Fedorovich Gorlov; Marina Ivanovna Slozhenkina; Aleksandr Anatolievich Mosolov; Lourdes Suarez Ramirez; Alireza Seidavi; Vito Laudadio; Vincenzo Tufarelli; Marco Ragni

doi:10.3390/antiox12020456

Effect of Dietary Amaranth (Amaranthus hybridus chlorostachys) Supplemented with Enzyme Blend on Egg Quality, Serum Biochemistry and Antioxidant Status in Laying Hens

Antioxidants (Basel). 2023 Feb 10;12(2):456. doi: 10.3390/antiox12020456.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 51666-16471, Iran.
² Volga Region Research Institute of Manufacture and Processing of Meat-and-Milk Production, 400131 Volgograd, Russia.
³ Department of Animal Pathology, Animal Production, Bromatology and Food Technology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35412 Arucas, Spain.
⁴ Department of Animal Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht 41335-3516, Iran.
⁵ Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Jonian Area, University of Bari 'Aldo Moro', Valenzano, 70010 Bari, Italy.
⁶ Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari 'Aldo Moro', 70126 Bari, Italy.

Abstract

A feeding trial was performed to assess the effects of dietary raw amaranth (Amaranthus hybridus chlorostachys) grain (RAG), with or without an enzyme blend, on the productive performance, blood biochemistry, and antioxidant status in laying hens. The trial was conducted following a completely randomized design by factorial method, including five levels of RAG (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40%, respectively) and two levels of enzyme blend (0 ^-E and 0.025 ^+E %). A total of 960 White Leghorn (Hy-line W-36) laying hens (56 weeks of age) were divided into 10 groups with eight repetitions, including 12 birds. The trial period was ten weeks. Results showed that RAG levels in feed (>10%) led to a significant decrease in blood total cholesterol (TC), but they also significantly decreased feed conversion ratio (FCR) (p ˂ 0.05) as measured by feed intake (FI), hen daily production (HDP), egg weight (EW), and mass (EM), leading to overall worse productivity compared to the control group. On the contrary, the addition of the enzyme blend led to an improvement in the investigated production traits (p ˂ 0.05), with the exception of HDP. The enzyme blend was also capable of recovering productive performance when combined with low concentrations of RAG (10%) (p ˂ 0.05), and RAG × enzyme blend groups showed the lowest values of TC (p ˂ 0.05). Moreover, the interaction effects for atherogenic index (LDL/HDL) indicated a significant and promising reduction in response to the addition of RAG both in the presence and absence of the enzyme blend (p ˂ 0.05), and this additive also significantly reduced levels of egg yolk cholesterol (p ˂ 0.05). In summary, the evidence gathered in this trial showed that dietary RAG had positive effects on egg quality characteristics, leading to the production of low-cholesterol eggs, and, at the same time, it may improve the health status of laying hens. Furthermore, the addition of an enzyme blend allowed feeding up to 10% RAG in the diet, leading to an optimal balance between animal productivity and the beneficial effects of RAG.

Keywords: amaranth; antioxidant status; egg quality; enzyme blend; laying hen.

Grants and funding

This research was part of the Ph.D thesis of the first author, and the authors would like to thank MSc. GH. Hosseintabar, the manager of Darvash Giah Khazar Medicinal Herbs Complex, for technical and financial support, and also for their valuable assistance in this research project. The research study was conducted with the aid of a grant of the RSF No. 22-16-00041 NIIMMP.