Influence of catechin (flavan-3-ol) addition to breeder quail ( Coturnix coturnix japonica ) diets on productivity, reproductive performance, egg quality and yolk oxidative stability

摘要

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of green tea ( Camellia sinensis ) catechin addition to breeder quail ( Coturnix coturnix japonica ) diet on productivity, reproductive performance, egg quality and yolk malondialdehyde (MDA) levels during storage, and some serum biochemical parameters. In this study, a total number of 180 quail, 7 weeks of age were randomly divided into 3 groups (1 control group and 2 treatment groups) with 5 replicates (9 females?￠????+?￠????3 males). The control group was fed basal diet; the treatment groups were fed basal diet with 0.2% and 0.4% catechin supplementation for 5????weeks. The results of this study showed that 0.2% and 0.4% catechin addition had no significant effects on live weight, feed intake, egg production, feed efficiency, and egg internal quality (yolk colour, albumen index, yolk index, Haugh units, and pH) ( P ?￠????>?￠????.05). Catechin addition reduced egg weight, egg specific gravity, and egg shell thickness ( P ?￠?????￠????.05) in the 0.2% catechin group compared to the control group. The addition of 0.2% catechin significantly increased fertility ( P ?￠????