Eggʹs Enrichment: Utilization of Fish Oils and Marine Algae as Sources of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Hensʹ Diet.

To investigate the influence of three PUFAs n-3 marine sources - salmon oil (SAL), tuna and sardine oil (AS), marine algae (AL) and combinations (SAL+AS, ALG+SAL, ALG+AS) - on egg quality and egg lipid composition, compared to a corn/soy control group (CON), 168 Hisex White laying hens were assigned into seven treatments with three repetitions in a randomized design during a experimental period of five weeks. The external and internal egg quality were not significantly affected by the addition of PUFAs n-3 marine sources into the hen diets. The saturated: monounsaturated: polyunsaturated ratio (3.5:4.5:2.0) remained constant by the supplementation of the marine sources into the diets. The salmon oil and the tuna and sardine oil showed the best results of PUFAs n-3 egg yolk enrichment, mainly the DHA. The PUFAs n-6/PUFAs n-3 ratio was significantly reduced by the inclusion of PUFAs n-3 sources into the hen diets. The EPA, although with lower levels than DHA into the egg yolk, showed a significant increase by the use of salmon oil and tuna and sardine oil added to the diet as compared to the control group (CON). The consumption of two DHA enriched eggs from this study per day probably would reach the daily requirements of this PUFA n-3 for the human been.