Evaluation of the chemical-nutritional parameters and the aromatic profile of eggs obtained from laying hens fed with a dietary supplementation of extruded linseed

Hen eggs represent a traditional food with an excellent nutritive value due to the presence of highly digestible proteins, vitamins, minerals and lipids, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Lipid composition of hen eggs is a subject of primary consumer concern, due to the relationship between specific dietary lipids and the development of coronary heart diseases (CHD). Nowadays, it is well known that ω-3 PUFAs provide important health benefits to humans as prevention and treatment of many ANIMAL PRODUCTS chronic diseases. The most significant ω-3 PUFAs appear to be α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and doco- sahexaenoic acid (DHA) and for the mentioned reasons over the course of time a growing interest has been developed in the pro- duction of eggs rich in ω-3 fatty acids, by feeding laying hens with experimental feedstuffs containing these nutrients. For example, ALA is predominantly in seed oils such as flax (Linum usitatissimum). Linseed is unique among oilseeds because of their exceptionally high content of ALA (≅50% of the total oilseed). The aim of this work was to determine the effect of the hens diet integration with extruded flaxseed (7%) on productive parame- ters and on the quality of resultant Bio-ω-3 eggs. At the end of the treatment, no significant difference was observed for eggs production while it was observed for the aver- age egg weight (58.05 ± 1.94% for control eggs vs. 63.37 ± 2.14% for flax eggs). Regarding, instead, the chemical-nutritional parameters, significant differences were not observed for total lipids and in the TBARs-test while significant differences were observed in the acidic profile. Specifically, ω-3 PUFAs were higher in flax eggs (p< .01) while SFA were higher in control eggs (p<.01). Also, β-carotene was found higher in flax eggs (478.20±15.19 μg/g vs. 324.80±13.84 μg/g, p<.001). The aro- matic profile was, also, analysed and significant differences were observed both for the alcohols and aldehydes compounds (p< .05). Finally, a significant difference in the colour was observed between the two types of eggs (ΔEab=1.77 ± 0.23, p<.05). In conclusion, it is possible to assert that the integration of the laying hens diet gave positive results as it has not negatively affected the production parameters, has improved the ω-6/ω–3 ratio (5.9:1 for flax eggs vs. 62:1 for control eggs) and the β-car- otene content, and has decreased the percentage of SFA guilty of cardiovascular pathologies.