Performance, Egg Quality, and Yolk Antioxidant Capacity of the Laying Quail in Response to Dietary Choline Levels

Abstract

The current study determined the ideal dose of choline in the diet of laying quails based on egg development, egg quality, and antioxidant capacity. A total of 120 female quails (244.7 ± 10.38 g) were randomly assigned to 6 experimental groups with 5 replicates of 4 quails each. In the 10-week trial, treatment diets were formed by adding 6 choline chloride−60% concentrations providing 1500 (control), 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500, and 4000 mg/kg of choline. The feed intake of quails was quadratically affected (p p < 0.001) with dietary choline levels. In contrast, the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value decreased as dietary choline levels increased, except for 4000 mg/kg levels. Based on the findings of the current study, 1500 mg/kg of dietary choline is adequate to maintain performance parameters and egg quality in laying quails. However, to increase egg antioxidant capacity, in terms of the DPPH value, the dietary choline dose needs to be increased to 3500 mg/kg.

Keywords

• antioxidant capacity
• choline
• egg quality
• performance
• quail