INFLUENCE OF EXTRUDED CAMELINA SEED AND NATURAL COLOURANTS ADDITION IN LAYING HENS DIET ON EGGS YOLK COLOUR AND FATTY ACID COMPOSITION

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of inclusion of camelina-corn meal co-extrudate (CCM) and natural pigments in hen's diet on colour, fatty acid composition and total tocopherols content of eggs. One hundred and twenty Lohmann Brown laying hens were fed with corn-soybean meal based diet with addition of CCM at different levels: 0% (control K1 and K2), 16.60% (C1) and 27.60% (C2). Control treatments were different in the amount of fat and content of pigments. Control treatment K1 contains 3% fat with no pigments added, while control treatment K2 contains 5% fat with the addition of synthetic pigments. Treatments C1 and C2, which contained 1% carrots and 0.5% paprika, achieved desirable colour, demanded by consumers, 12.67 and 13.28 RYCF (Roche Yolk Colour Fan), respectively. Eggs from hens fed with CCM had significantly higher level (p <= 0.001) of alpha-linolenic (3.89% for C1 and 4.29% for C2), docosahexaenoic (1.38% for C1 and 1.34% for C2) and eicosapentaenoic (0.17% for C1 and 0.18% for C2) acids than eggs originated from hens fed with the control diets. The omega-6/omega-3 ratios of 1.74 and 1.73 in treatments C1 and C2 respectively, were significantly lower (p <= 0.001) than omega-6/omega-3 ratios in the control treatments K1 and K2 (9.40 and 8.88, respectively). Hence, the obtained results showed the possibility of producing functional egg with desirable colour and fatty acid composition by adding CCM and natural pigments in hen's diet.