Pumpkin and garden cress seed oils as feed additives to improve the physiological and productive traits of laying hens

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredient composition and calculated analysis of the basal diet for laying hens.

Ingredients	g/100g (on dry matter basis)
Yellow corn	63.37
Soybean meal (44%)	24.60
Wheat bran	2.07
Limestone	7.80
Dicalcium phosphate	1.50
Methionine	0.06
Salt	0.30
Vitamin and mineral premix*	0.30
Total	100.00
Calculated analysis
Protein (g/100g)	16.00
Metabolizable energy (Kcal/kg)	2700
Dry matter (%)	89.75
Ash (%)	2.51
Crude fibre (%)	2.70
Lipids (fat) (%)	2.82
Calcium (g/100g)	3.30
Available phosphorus (g/100g)	0.42
Methionine (g/100g)	0.35
Lysine (g/100g)	0.89

*Each kg of vitamin and minerals mixture contained: Vitamin A 12,000 IU; Vitamin D3 2000 IU; Vitamin E 10 mg; Vitamin K3 2 mg; Vitamin B1 1 mg; Vitamin B 24 mg; Vitamin B6 1.5 mg; Pantothenic acid 10 mg; Vitamin B12 0.01 mg; Folic acid 1 mg; Niacin 20 mg; Biotin 0.05 mg; Choline chloride (50% choline) 500 mg; Zn 55 mg; Fe 30 mg; I 1 mg; Se 0.1 mg; Mn 55 mg; ethoxyquin 300 mg.

Table 2. Major fatty acid contents (%) in pumpkin and cress seed oils.

Fatty acids	PK seed oil	GC seed oil^a
Palmitic C16:0	15.32	10.09
Palmitoleic C16:1	0.2	0.21
Stearic C18:0	5.49	3.17
Oleic C18:1	42.07	24.08
Linoleic C18:2n6	36.39	12.20
Linolenic C18:3n3	0.13	33.65
Arachidic C20:0	0.40	3.34
Gadoleic C20:1	–	13.08
SFA^b	21.21	16.6
MUFA^c	42.27	37.37
PUFA^d	36.52	45.85

^aThe total not equal 100% as trace amount of some fatty acids was not identified. ^bSFA: Saturated fatty acids; ^cMUFA: Monounsaturated fatty acids; ^dPUFA: Polyunsaturated fatty acids. PK: Pumpkin; GC: Garden cress. The fatty acid values are presented as averages according to Stevenson et al. (2007), Kulaitiene et al. (2007), Srbinoska et al. (2012), Bardaa et al. (2016), and Achilonu et al. (2018). The fatty acid concentrations are variable and depend on several factors such as the part from which the oil is extracted. The metabolised energy value of PK was 8571 kcal, and the metabolised energy value of GC was 8620 kcal, according to the manufacturer (El-Hawag Factory for the extraction of Natural Oils and Cosmetics in Badr City, Egypt).

Table 3. Productive performance of laying hens as affected by the supplementation of PK and GC seed oils and their combination.

Parameters	Control	PK seed oil 0.5%	GC seed oil 0.5%	PK seed oil 0.25% + GC seed oil 0.25%	SEM	p-value
Egg weight (g)	50.27	51.85	52.01	51.68	2.22	0.081
Egg production (%)	60.07^c	69.01^b	67.01^b	73.33^a	1.89	<0.001
Egg mass (g/h/d)	30.18^c	35.77^b	34.85^b	37.89^a	0.46	0.020
Feed intake (g/h/d)	119.78	127.65	125.71	126.11	4.31	0.550
Feed conversion ratio (g feed/ g egg)	3.97^a	3.56^b	3.55^b	3.33^b	0.15	0.020

^abcMeans in the same row having different superscripts are significantly different (p ≤ 0.05). PK: pumpkin; GC: garden cress; SEM: standard error of mean.

Table 4. Egg quality traits of laying hens as affected by the supplementation of PK and GC seed oils and their combination.

Traits	Control	PK seed oil 0.5%	GC seed oil 0.5%	PK seed oil 0.25% + GC seed oil 0.25%	SEM	p-value
Shell (%)	11.50	11.16	11.33	11.42	0.20	0.730
Yolk (%)	33.26	32.54	32.12	32.67	0.32	0.130
Albumen (%)	55.24	56.31	56.55	55.90	0.28	0.080
Shell thickness (mm)	0.36	0.35	0.34	0.36	0.01	0.250
Yolk colour score	7.10	7.40	7.01	7.20	0.19	0.551

PK: pumpkin; GC: garden cress; SEM: standard error of mean.

Table 5. Hematological traits of laying hens as affected by the supplementation of PK and GC seed oils and their combination.

Parameters	Control	PK seed oil 0.5%	GC seed oil 0.5%	PK seed oil 0.25% + GC seed oil 0.25%	SEM	p-value
RBC (10^6/mm^3)	2.45	2.52	2.55	2.68	0.10	0.550
Hb (g/dL)	11.22	11.5	11.46	11.64	0.21	0.601
PCV (%)	32.04	32.68	32.52	34.42	1.33	0.521
WBC (10^3/mm^3)	22.14^b	25.20^a	25.28^a	25.61^a	0.29	<0.001
Lymphocytes (%)	54.11^b	56.41^ab	58.80^ab	61.20^a	1.71	0.030
Heterophils (%)	36.51^a	33.20^b	31.60^b	32.62^b	0.68	0.010
H/L ratio	0.67^a	0.59^b	0.54^bc	0.53^c	0.01	<0.001

^abcMeans in the same row having different superscripts are significantly different (p ≤ 0.05). PK: pumpkin; GC: garden cress; SEM; standard error of mean; RBC: red blood cell; WBC: white blood cell; Hb: haemoglobin; PCV: haematocrit.

Table 6. Biochemical traits of laying hens as affected by the supplementation of PK and GC seed oils and their combination.

Traits	Control	PK seed oil 0.5%	GC seed oil 0.5%	PK seed oil 0.25% + GC seed oil 0.25%	SEM	p-value
Cholesterol (mg/dL)	194.80^a	176.40^b	161.81^c	145.43^d	1.43	<0.001
HDL (mg/dL)	37.61^b	42.82^a	42.41^a	41.80^a	0.98	<0.001
LDL (mg/dL)	124.36^a	102.68^b	90.36^c	75.84^d	1.65	0.001
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	164.21^a	154.60^b	145.20^c	138.81^d	0.88	<0.001
Glucose (mg/dL)	213.20^a	205.42^b	159.61^d	175.60^c	2.55	0.001
Total protein (g/dL)	6.72	6.78	6.76	6.84	0.06	0.660
Albumin (g/dL)	3.68	3.58	3.52	3.52	0.05	0.311
Globulin (g/dL)	3.04^b	3.20^ab	3.24^ab	3.32^a	0.07	0.050
AST (U/L)	95.41^a	83.01^c	88.20^b	85.89^b	1.37	0.001
ALT (U/L)	30.21^a	19.33^c	22.80^b	23.01^b	0.79	<0.001

^abcdMeans in the same row having different superscripts are significantly different (p ≤ 0.05). PK: pumpkin; GC; garden cress; SEM: standard error of mean; HDL: High-density lipoproteins; LDL: low-density lipoproteins; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: alanine aminotransferase.

Table 7. Antioxidant parameters of laying hens as affected by the supplementation of PK and GC seed oils and their combination.

Parameters	Control	PK seed oil 0.5%	GC seed oil 0.5%	PK seed oil 0.25% + GC seed oil 0.25%	SEM	p-value
SOD (mg/dL)	52.34^c	59.11^b	60.20^b	67.40^a	0.81	0.001
MDA (µmol/mL)	3.91^a	2.51^b	2.49^b	2.34^b	0.11	0.001
GPx (U/L)	2.05^c	2.76^b	3.19^a	3.11^a	0.07	<0.001

^abcMeans in the same row having different superscripts are significantly different (p ≤ 0.05). PK: pumpkin; GC: garden cress; SEM: standard error of mean; SOD: superoxide dismutase; MDA: Malondialdehyde; GPx: glutathione peroxidase.

Table 8. Fatty acids profile of laying hen’s egg yolk as affected by the supplementation of PK and GC seed oils and their combination.

Fatty acids (µg/g yolk)		Control	PK seed oil 0.5%	GC seed oil 0.5%	PK seed oil 0.25% + GC seed oil 0.25%	SEM	p-value
Myristic	C14:0	0.13^d	0.22^b	0.26^a	0.17^c	0.00	<0.001
Pentadecanoic	C15:0	0.05^ab	0.05^ab	0.06^a	0.04^b	0.00	0.010
Palmitic	C16:0	26.20^c	32.67^b	37.66^a	31.37^b	0.35	0.001
Heptadecanoic	C17:0	0.21^b	0.24^a	0.25^a	0.23^ab	0.01	<0.001
Stearic	C18:0	12.50^c	17.67^b	17.57^b	19.20^a	0.28	0.001
Behenic	C22:0	0.09^b	0.12^a	0.11^a	0.11^a	0.01	<0.001
ƩSFA		39.16^c	50.92^b	55.91^a	51.12^b	2.02	0.001
Palmitoleic	C16:1	2.20^b	1.90^c	2.77^a	1.80^c	0.11	0.001
Heptadecenoic	C17:1	0.07^c	0.07^c	0.11^a	0.09^b	0.00	<0.001
Oleic	C18:1	27.07^c	34.73^b	38.01^a	35.00^b	0.30	0.001
Eicosenoic	C20:1	0.18^c	0.25^b	0.29^a	0.25^b	0.00	<0.001
ƩMUFA		29.52^c	36.96^b	41.17^a	37.14^b	0.78	0.001
Linoleic	C18:2n6	12.30^b	16.70^a	14.17^ab	11.60^b	0.80	0.001
Ƴ-linolenic	C18:3n6	0.11^b	0.17^a	0.18^a	0.11^b	0.01	0.001
Eicosadienoic	C20:2n6	0.28^b	0.37^a	0.26^b	0.29^ab	0.02	0.011
Eicosatrienoic	C20:3n6	0.33^b	0.51^a	0.53^a	0.48^a	0.05	0.001
Arachidonic	C20:4n6	6.87^b	11.10^a	12.07^a	12.60^a	0.65	0.001
Ʃn-6 PUFA		19.88^c	28.85^a	27.20^ab	25.08^b	0.73	0.001
α-linolenic	C18:3n3	0.18^c	0.21^bc	0.34^a	0.24^b	0.01	0.001
Eicosatrienoic	C20:3n3	0.06^c	0.06^c	0.09^a	0.08^b	0.00	<0.001
Eicosapentaenoic	C20:5n3	0.03^b	0.05^a	0.04^b	0.05^a	0.00	<0.001
Docosahexaenoic	C22:6n3	2.77^d	5.40^c	8.87^a	7.37^b	0.38	0.001
Ʃn-3 PUFA		3.04^d	5.71^c	9.33^a	7.73^b	0.30	0.001
n-6/n-3 ratio		6.67^a	5.37^b	2.93^c	3.24^c	0.41	<0.001

^abcdMeans in the same row having different superscripts are significantly different (p ≤ 0.05). PK: pumpkin; GC: garden cress; SEM: standard error of mean; SFA: saturated fatty acids; MUFA: monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids.

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