Effect of Dietary Fresh Water Algae, Chlorella Supplementation on Egg Quality and Fatty Acid in Organic Laying Hens

This study was carried out to investigate how chlorella dry powder added to the feed of laying hens influences on the egg quality and the composition of egg yolk's fatty acid. Moisture content, ash content, crude protein content, and crude fat content were 12.8%, 10.8%, 18.0% and 2.5%, respectively. The moisture content of the chlorella powder added to the feed was about 1.54%, the ash content was 6.53%, the crude protein content was 54.56%, and the crude fat content was 2.45 %. After feeding chlorella, compared to the control, the color of egg shell significantly became darker. The hardness of egg shell was increased for 10 days after chlorella feeding and was significantly strengthened. Thickness of egg shell was significantly thicker. The height of egg whites was increased. After 10 days of providing chlorella, the quality of egg white was 92.0 HU (Haugh Unit), which was significantly higher than 84.8 HU, the quality of the control. The color of egg yolk significantly revealed more yellow than that of the control. Egg weight was increased by 7.5% after 15 days of feeding chlorella. Protein content was increased by 11.9% and 10.7% after 10 and 15 days of feeding, respectively. The major compositions of fatty acid content of egg yolk fed with chlorella diet were oleic acid, trans-linoleic acid, palmitic acid, α-linolenic acid, stearic acid, DHA, EPA, palmitoleic acid, and heptadecanoic acid, respectively. Palmitoleic acid was decreased in the eggs fed with chlorella diet compared to the control. The Saturated Fatty Acid (SFA) content of the control was higher than that of the eggs fed with chlorella. The content of Unsaturated Fatty Acid (UFA) was higher in egg yolks fed with chlorella than in the control. The ratio of UFA to Saturated Fatty Acid (SFA) was higher in egg yolks fed with chlorella than in the control. These results suggest that the addition of chlorella to the feed of the laying hens brings positive effects on the improvement of egg quality and lowering of the Unsaturated Fatty Acid of egg yolk.