Bixa orellana Grains and Curcuma longa Rhizomes Powders for Coturnix coturnix japonica Egg Yolks’ Coloration

Abstract

Background and Objective: Because of a severe yellow corn shortage in Côte dʼIvoire in 2021, the study assessed Bixa orellana (B.o) grains and Curcuma longa (C.l) rhizomes powder effect on Coturnix coturnix japonica hens egg yolks colouration.Materials and Methods: First, two control diets were made of yellow corn (YC) and white corn (WC). Additionally, 10 diets were made by enriching the white corn-based diet with B.o grains and C.l rhizomes powders, at different incorporation rates. Second, three hundred sixty Coturnix coturnix japonica laying hens, 51 weeks old weighing 227.68±16.68 g, were randomly allotted to the 12 diets, with 10 birds in each, with 3 replications. Following, on the last day of week 8 (59 weeks old), the eggs were weighed. Then, three eggs of similar weights per diet were collected for analysis. To end, the eggs and their constituents were weighed and the yolksʼ colours were assessed through L*, a* and b* measurements. Results: First, the best egg weights were obtained with WC+1% B.o, WC+0.15% B.o+0.45% C.l and WC+0.6% B.o diets for 11.31±0.21, 11.10±0.12 and 11.06±0.12 g, respectively. Second, following the YC diet that performed 98.34±061 (p<0.0001), white corn-based diets containing natural carotenoid sources best egg yolk yellowness (b*) were obtained with WC+0.75% B.o+0.25% C.l and WC+1% B.o for 90.11±1.21 and 80.55±1.21 (p<0.0001). Thirdly, the total cholesterol lowest content with well-coloured egg yolk was obtained with WC+1% B.o for 18.60±3.47 mg per g of fresh yolk. The WC+1% B.o result was far away from that of the YC diet (32.58±1.74 mg/g, p<0.0001). Conclusion: White corn-based diets can be beneficially enriched with 1% of Bixa orellana grainsʼ powders for Coturnix coturnix japonica hens egg yolks colouration.