ABSTRACT
Artemisia annua L. is a widely distributed medicinal plant and well-known for treating malaria due to the artemisinin content. We previously found enhanced antioxidant and antibacterial activities of Lactobacillus plantarum-fermented A. annua dried leaves in vitro. The present study compared the effects of the dietary supplementation of L. plantarum, fermented (FA) or non-fermented (NFA) A. annua on laying performance, egg quality, serum cholesterol, and egg yolk oxidative stability during storage in 40-weeks-old Hy-Line Brown layers. In total, 180 layers were randomly allocated into four treatments for 6 weeks: basal diet (CON), basal diet + 0.5% L. plantarum only (LO), basal diet + 0.5% NFA, and basal diet + 0.5% FA. Each treatment comprised five replicates with nine birds each. Egg weight of NFA and FA groups were significantly higher as compared with the CON and LO groups (p<0.01). The FA group displayed higher Haugh unit (HU) compared with the NFA group (p<0.05). Eggshell color of the FA group was significantly increased compared with the other groups (p<0.01). There was no significant difference in triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and VLDL+LDL cholesterol among the different groups. During egg storage, the HU of FA groups was significantly increased as compared with the CON group after 3 weeks storage (p<0.05). The malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the stored eggs was significantly lowered by feeding of FA as compared with the CON and LO groups (p<0.05). Altogether, the fermented A. annua displayed positive effects in promoting egg quality of layers.
Keywords:
Artemisia annua L; egg quality; Lactobacillus plantarum; laying hens; malondialdehyde