PERFORMANCE AND ANTIOXIDANT STATUS OF STORED EGGS FROM HENS FED DIETARY GINGER AND CLOVE

Abstract

Eighty (80) 18 weeks old, grower ISA Brown strain birds were used to evaluate performance and antioxidant status of 35 day-stored eggs laid by hens fed dietary ginger and clove. The birds were randomly divided into 5 groups of 4 replicates per group. Each replicate contained 4 birds. Five experimental diets were formulated for the study namely: Basal diet without clove bud or ginger rhizone powders (control). Diet T1 was basal diet supplemented with 0.1% Clove Bud Powder (CBP) and 0.25% Ginger Rhizome Powder (GRP). The T2 was basal diet that contained 0.2% CBP and 0.25% GRP. Basal diet containing 0.1% CBP and 0.5% GRP was tagged T3. Diet T4 was basal diet supplemented with 0.2% CLP and 0.5% GRP. The results showed that dietary treatment did not significantly (P>0.05) influence performance and antioxidant capacity of the eggs stored. However, the interaction effect of CBP and GRP significantly influenced malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration (P=0.053) and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) activity (P= 0.010). The highest increase in MDA was observed for hens fed diet supplemented with 0.1% CBP and 0.25% GRP (T1) (3.09 versus 2.73 nmol/mg protein for the control) with low SOD activity (2.50 versus 4.75 U/mg protein for the control). Furthermore, the main effect of GRP tended to significantly (P= 0.058) influence Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) with the highest GPx activity noticed for hens fed 0.5% ginger powder (T3 and T4). The lowest MDA concentration with better antioxidant enzymes (SOD and GPx) were
observed in T3 (0.1% CBP and 0.5% GRP)