Effects of dietary red pepper on egg yolk colour and histological intestinal morphology in laying hens

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of three kinds of red pepper supplementation 'Kagawa Hontaka' produced at Shiwaku Islands (KHS), Miki (KHM) and Takanotsume (TKT) on production performance, egg quality and intestinal histology in laying hens. A total of 32 laying hens (39 weeks of age) were randomly allotted to four groups, each comprising eight hens. Birds were fed a basal diet supplemented with red pepper at 0% (control), 0.5% KHS, 0.5% KHM and 0.5% TKT, respectively. Compared with the control group, no significant difference (p > 0.05) in feed consumption, final body weight, hen-day production, egg mass, feed efficiency, shell-breaking strength, shell thickness, shell ratio, albumen ratio, yolk ratio and Haugh units was observed among the experimental groups. Roche yolk colour fan (RYCF) value increased significantly in all experimental groups (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the KHS and KHM groups showed higher RYCF values than the TKT group (p < 0.05). Spectrophotometric measurements of yolk colour, redness (a*) and yellow index (YI) values were higher in the KHS and KHM groups (p < 0.0001). The yellowness (b*) value was lower in the TKT group (p < 0.05). The lightness (L*) value was lower in the KHS and KHM groups (p < 0.05). Villus height, villus area, cell area and cell mitosis in all intestinal segments tended to be higher in all experimental groups. Jejunal cell area and cell mitosis were higher in experimental groups than in the control group (p < 0.05). The cells on the villus tip surface were protuberated in all experimental groups. In conclusion, the KHS, KHM and TKT groups showed hypertrophied intestinal villi and epithelial cell functions. These results indicate that dietary red pepper has stimulating effect on intestinal villi and the structure of epithelial cells, and the 0.5% KHS and KHM groups improved in egg yolk colour.

Effects of Supplementing Layer Hen Diet with Red Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Powder as Natural Yolk Colourant on Laying Performance, Pigmentation of Yolk, Egg Quality and Serum Immunoglobulin Levels

“…Results showed that the efficiency of transition of yolk pigments in red pepper to yolk increased when the supplementation amount of red pepper extract increased. This finding is consistent with previous results reported by Niu et al (2008), Lokaewmanee et al (2010Lokaewmanee et al ( , 2013, and Rossi et al (2015), Abou-Elkhair et al (2018). This darkened color could be related with a higher content of capsanthin (Santos-Bocanegra et al, 2004).…”

Effects of Dietary Turmeric and Hot Pepper Powder Supplementation on Productive Performance of Local Laying Hens

“…The red pepper contains small amounts of red pigments and comparatively large amounts of yellow carotenoids which pass readily into the yolk thereby enhancing the intensity of the yellow color (González et al, 1999). These results indicate that dietary red pepper has stimulating effect on intestinal villi and the structure of epithelial cells, and the 0.5% red pepper groups improved in egg yolk color (Lokaewmanee et al, 2009). There is an indication that liver function decreases with an increase in age and with an advance in egg production.…”

Effects on Intestinal Mucosal Morphology, Productive Parameters and Microbiota Composition after Supplementation with Fermented Defatted Alperujo (FDA) in Laying Hens

“…The majority of these studies focused on the small intestine, mainly the jejunum mucosa, with only a few evaluating the duodenum [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37], despite its very high absorption potential [38]. In one case, supplementation with bamboo vinegar or polyunsaturated fatty acid from an extruded flax product resulted in a significant increase in duodenal villi height in aged hens, suggesting that diet composition affects the duodenal mucosal structure [29,36].…”