Effect of dietary Artemisia argyi powder on egg production, egg quality and nutrients, serum biochemical indices in laying ducks

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredients and chemical composition of the experimental diets (DM basis).

Ingredients,%	Experimental group
	Control	2%	4%	6%
Corn	64.6	63.4	62	60
Soybean meal	19	19	19	18.5
Wheat bran	3.5	2.5	1.5	1.5
Rapeseed cake	2	2	2	2
Palm oil	1.1	1.3	1.7	2.2
CaHPO4	1	1	1	1
Limestone	7.5	7.5	7.5	7.5
NaCl	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
Premix1	1	1	1	1
Artemisia argyi powder	0	2	4	6
Chemical composition
Crude protein	15.24	15..29	15.31	15.23
ME(MJ/kg)	11.46	11.44	11.46	11.45
Crude fibre	2.74	2.81	2.88	2.98
Calcium	2.94	2.97	2,99	3.02
Available phosphorus	0.31	0.33	0.31	0.30
Lysine	0.66	0.66	0.65	0.63
Methionine	0.23	0.23	0.23	0.22

(1) The premix provides the following micronutrients (per kilogram of complete diet): Cu 10 mg, Fe 80 mg, Mn 60 mg, Zn 60 mg, I 0.4 mg, Se 0.2 mg, vitamin A 4000 IU, vitamin K₃ 2 mg, vitamin B₁ 3.5 mg, niacin 50 mg, folic acid 1.0 mg, calcium pantothenate 10 mg, vitamin B₆ 2.5 mg, vitamin B₁₂ 0.01 mg and biotin 0.1 mg.

(2) Crude protein, crude fibre and metabolic energy were measured values, while other chemical components were calculated values.

Table 2. Effect of Artemisia argyi powder on egg performance in laying ducks.

Item	Diet				SEM	P-value
	0	2%	4%	6%
ADFI (g)	132.01^a	130.18^a	129.42^ab	127.52^b	0.412	0.017
AEW(g)	61.58^a	60.07^ab	59.91^ab	58.36^b	0.361	0.014
ALR(%)	75.83^b	82.87^a	84.33^a	80.73^ab	0.008	0.046
PLR(%)	91.98^b	93.75^a	93.68^a	92.24^ab	0.003	0.056
FCR	2.94^a	2.76^bc	2.68^c	2.87^ab	0.021	0.025

^a,b,c Values within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at P < 0.05.

ADFI, average daily feed intake; AEW, average egg weight; ALR, average egg laying ratio; PLR, peak egg laying ratio; FCR, feed conversion ratio.

Table 3. Effect of A. argyi powder on egg quality in laying ducks.

Items	Diet				SEM	P-value
	0	2%	4%	6%
Egg shape index	1.36	1.35	1.35	1.33	0.006	0.483
Eggshell strength(N)	45.52^ab	44.54^b	46.54^ab	49.72^a	0.724	0.062
Eggshell thickness(mm)	0.22^b	0.29^a	0.31^a	0.30^a	0.005	<0.001
Yolk weight(g)	19.00^ab	18.78^ab	19.29^a	17.94^b	0.184	0.054
Yolk ratio	30.92	30.75	30.17	29.83	0.335	0.651
Albumen height(mm)	6.84	6.67	6.23	6.18	0.145	0.282
Yolk colour	10.61^a	10.67^a	10.89^a	9.50^b	0.152	0.004
Haugh unit	80.72	79.86	76.65	77.27	1.044	0.454

^a,b,c Values within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at P < 0.05.

Table 4. Effect of A. argyi powder on fatty acid composition in egg yolk of laying duck.

Items	Diet				SEM	P-value
	0	2%	4%	6%
Saturated fatty acid(SFA),%
C12:0	0.02^ab	0.02^a	0.02^ab	0.02^b	0.001	0.095
C14:0	0.40^b	0.51^a	0.43^b	0.42^b	0.014	0.002
C15:0	0.02^b	0.02^b	0.03^a	0.03^a	0.001	<0.001
C16:0	24.44^b	24.75^a	23.84^c	23.69^c	0.134	<0.001
C17:0	0.06^c	0.07^b	0.09^a	0.10^a	0.004	<0.001
C18:0	5.41^b	5.91^a	5.93^a	5.91^a	0.088	0.063
C20:0	0.03^b	0.03^a	0.03^a	0.04^a	0.001	0.033
C21:0	0.03	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.003	0.555
C22:0	0.29^b	0.30^a	0.28^c	0.28^c	0.003	<0.001
C24:0	0.03^b	0.04^ab	0.04^a	0.04^a	0.001	0.008
Total SFA	30.73^b	31.68^a	30.73^b	30.53^b	0.137	<0.001
Monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), %
C14:1	0.04^b	0.06^a	0.04^b	0.03^b	0.003	<0.001
C16:1	2.83^a	3.03^a	2.56^b	2.52^b	0.069	0.003
C17:1	0.07^c	0.07^bc	0.08^a	0.08^ab	0.002	0.006
C18:1n9t	0.21^b	0.23^a	0.20^b	0.21^b	0.004	0.007
C18:1n9c	56.00^a	54.76^bc	54.35^c	55.16^b	0.198	0.001
C20:1n9	0.21^a	0.02^a	0.23^a	0.02^a	0.043	0.120
Total MUFA	59.37^a	58.16^b	57.45^c	58.03^b	0.212	<0.001
Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), %
C20:2	0.16^d	0.16^c	0.19^b	0.19^a	0.004	<0.001
C18:2n6t	0.08	0.09	0.08	0.08	0.001	0.431
C18:2n6c	7.36^b	7.45^b	8.87^a	8.83^a	0.222	<0.001
C18:3n6	0.17^b	0.18^a	0.14^c	0.15^c	0.005	<0.001
C18:3n3	0.26^b	0.35^a	0.37^a	0.37^a	0.014	<0.001
C20:3n6	0.18^d	0.19^c	0.22^a	0.21^b	0.005	<0.001
C20:3n3	0.06^a	0.06^a	0.05^b	0.05^b	0.002	0.008
C20:4n6	1.43^b	1.46^b	1.66^a	1.36^c	0.035	<0.001
C22:6n3(DHA)	0.13	0.07	0.07	0.04	0.015	0.201
DPA	0.09^d	0.12^c	0.15^a	0.15^b	0.008	<0.001
Total n-3	0.54^b	0.62^ab	0.66^a	0.62^ab	0.017	0.055
Total n-6	9.21^c	9.37^c	10.98^a	10.63^b	0.234	<0.001
Total PUFA	9.91^c	10.16^c	11.82^a	11.44^b	0.249	<0.001
n-6/n-3	17.14	15.25	16.72	17.02	0.335	0.154
PUFA/SFA	0.32^b	0.32^b	0.38^a	0.37^a	0.009	<0.001

SFA = total saturated fatty acids; MUFA = total monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA = total polyunsaturated fatty acids; DPA = docosapentaenoic acid; n-6 = omega-6 fatty acids; n-3 = omega-3 fatty acids.

^a,b,c Values within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at P < 0.05.

Table 5. Effect of A. argyi powder on amino acid composition in duck egg.

Item	Diet				SEM	P-value
	0	2%	4%	6%
Asp	3.99^c	4.24^a	4.28^a	4.14^b	0.035	<0.001
Thr	2.57^c	2.79^a	2.80^a	2.68^b	0.029	<0.001
Ser	3.41^c	3.64^a	3.60^a	3.50^b	0.029	<0.001
Glu	5.65^c	6.04^a	5.98^ab	5.87^b	0.048	<0.001
Gly	1.50^b	1.60^a	1.60^a	1.54^b	0.013	<0.001
Ala	2.17^b	2.29^a	2.27^a	2.19^b	0.017	0.001
Val	2.83^b	3.00^a	3.01^a	2.87^b	0.025	<0.001
Met	1.94^b	1.95^b	2.11^a	1.36^c	0.087	<0.001
Ile	2.06^c	2.21^a	2.18^a	2.12^b	0.018	<0.001
Leu	3.68^b	3.93^a	3.89^a	3.75^b	0.033	<0.001
Tyr	2.07^b	2.22^a	2.24^a	2.10^b	0.023	<0.001
Phe	3.31^b	3.48^a	3.48^a	3.33^b	0.026	0.001
His	1.01^c	1.10^a	1.09^a	1.05^b	0.011	<0.001
Lys	3.23^c	3.45^a	3.47^a	3.32^b	0.031	<0.001
Arg	2.45^d	2.66^a	2.60^b	2.52^c	0.025	<0.001
Pro	1.70^b	1.79^a	1.78^a	1.75^ab	0.012	0.008
TAA	43.56^b	46.38^a	46.38^a	44.07^b	0.410	<0.001
EAA	20.63^b	21.91^a	22.03^a	20.47^b	0.223	<0.001
NEAA	22.93^c	24.47^a	24.34^a	23.60^b	0.198	<0.001
EAA/TAA %	47.36^ab	47.24^b	47.50^a	46.45^c	0.123	<0.001
EAA/NEAA %	89.93^b	89.53^c	90.50^a	86.70^d	0.444	<0.001

TAA = total amino acid; EAA = essential amino acid; NEAA = non-essential amino acids;

^a,b,c Values within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at P < 0.05.

Table 6. Effect of A argyi powder on serum biochemical indices in laying ducks.

Items	Diet				SEM	P-value
	0	2%	4%	6%
ALB (g/L)	10.73	13.43	12.95	13.50	0.451	0.095
TP (g/L)	26.17^b	32.70^a	35.42^a	32.47^a	1.008	0.007
MDA (nmol/mL)	8.94	6.98	5.45	7.90	0.546	0.136
T-SOD (U/mL)	44.06^b	55.18^a	52.66^a	49.73^ab	1.181	0.004
GSH-Px (U/L)	254.42^b	316.19^a	308.21^a	313.69^a	7.670	0.008
IgG (g/L)	1.78^b	1.56^b	2.12^a	1.69^b	0.048	<0.001
IgA (g/L)	0.22	0.22	0.23	0.23	0.003	0.466
IgM (g/L)	0.38^b	0.37^b	0.45^a	0.36^b	0.012	0.025

^a,b,c Values within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at P < 0.05.

Table 7. Effect of Artemisia argyi powder on internal organ parameters in laying ducks.

Items	Diet				SEM	P-value
	0	2%	4%	6%
Hepatosomatic index	2.9734	3.0540	3.2838	3.0579	0.0621	0.341
Thymus index	0.0180^b	0.0205^b	0.0281^a	0.0201^b	0.0010	0.014
Bursal index	0.0262^b	0.0275^b	0.0332^a	0.0270^b	0.0009	0.011
Spleen index	0.0601^b	0.0725^a	0.0730^a	0.0634^ab	0.0020	0.031

^a,b,c Values within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at P < 0.05.