Scanning Electron Microscopic Comparison of Different Poultry Species' Eggshells

Abstract

he eggshell is known as a respiratory organ for embryos and its structure has some barriers to exchange gases which the embryo needs. At the same time, the eggshell protects the egg from bacteria, predation, dehydration and mechanical effects by small animals. [1][2][3][4] The majority of the eggshell structure is made of mineral. The avian eggshells include A AB BS S T TR RA AC CT T O Ob bj je ec ct ti iv ve e: : The aim of this study is to investigate the eggshells of different poultry species such as goose, duck, turkey, chicken and quail by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). M Ma at te er ri ia al l a an nd d M Me et th ho od ds s: : After collecting the eggs, their width and length were measured for shape index ratios. Then they were broken and left in distilled water for a night and the remaining membranes were detached and the eggshells were left to dry. Then the samples were covered with gold palladium and observed by using scanning electron microscope. SPSS 16.0 was used for statistical analysis. R Re es su ul lt ts s: : Cross-section micrographs of species derived from SEM showed that the layers from the outer surface to the inner surface were cuticle, vertical crystal, palisade layer, mammillary layer and eggshell membrane, respectively. Hollow vesicles were observed in the palisade layer of the eggshells of all species. Passages were observed among the walls of hollow vesicles of quail eggshell. It was observed that basal caps of the mammillary bodies took place on the eggshell membrane in all species. The shape indices of eggs from geese (64.74 ± 3.3%) and quails (80.40 ± 4.5%) were significantly different from each other and were also different from the other three species' eggs. However, regarding the eggshell thicknesses, each species of goose and quail were significantly different from the other four species. C Co on nc cl lu us si io on n: : Although there are some differences among the microstructure of avian eggshells, it can be said that the structure of their eggshells are generally similar to each other.