Animals (Oct 2019)

Effects of Ginger Extract on Laying Performance, Egg Quality, and Antioxidant Status of Laying Hens

  • Chao Wen,
  • Yunfeng Gu,
  • Zhengguo Tao,
  • Zongjia Cheng,
  • Tian Wang,
  • Yanmin Zhou

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9110857
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 11
p. 857

Abstract

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The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of ginger extract (GE) as a dietary supplement for laying hens. A total of 40-week-old 288 Hyline Brown laying hens were randomly divided into two groups with six replicates, and fed a basal diet with or without 100 g/t GE for eight weeks. Dietary GE supplementation increased egg weight, albumin height, and Haugh unit of eggs, and decreased yolk cholesterol content and activities of alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase in serum at eight weeks. Moreover, GE resulted in higher total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity and lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content in yolk at four and eight weeks and in serum. It was concluded that GE was effective in increasing egg weight and improving the egg quality and antioxidant status of laying hens.

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