EGG YOLK LIPIDS CHANGE IN JAPANESE QUAIL GIVEN TRIBULUS TERRESTRIS EXTRACT

摘要

The objective of the current research was to study the change of yolk lipid fractions in the eggs of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) given different doses of the Bulgarian product Vemoherb T (dry extract from the herb Tribulus terrestris). A total of 52 female and 16 male Japanese quails of Pharaon breed, at the age of 44 days were randomly divided into four groups -control and 3 experimental (13 female and 4 male in each). All groups were fed ad libitum the same compound feed. Tribulusterrestris was added to the quails’ drinking water in the following daily doses: 4mg/kg body weight for a period of 10 weeks (P‘ group); lOmg/kg body weight during the first fife weeks of the experiment (IIrd group); lOmg/kg body weight for a period of10 weeks (IIInd group). The following indices of egg yolk were determined at the end of the experiment: total lipids - by Bligh and Dyer (1959); phospholipids - by Bartlett (1975); total cholesterol content - by Shoenheimer-Sperry (1950) and fatty acidcomposition - using the “Perichromm” gas chromatograph.