Effect of Supplementation of Orange Peel Powder to the Diet on Performance, Egg Quality and Egg Yolk Antioxidant Activity in Laying Quails

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to determine the effect of orange peel powder addition to laying quail diets on performance, egg external and internal quality, and egg antioxidant activity. A total of 120 female Japanese quails were randomly allocated to 6 treatment groups with 5 replicates each. Treatment groups were formed by supplementing 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 g/kg orange peel powder to the basal diet. Performance parameters such as body weight, body weight change, egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio and egg quality parameters of laying quails were not affected by the addition of orange peel to the diet. Egg yolk DPPH (2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) activity increased linearly with the addition of orange peel powder to the diet compared to the control group, but this effect was not observed at egg yolk TBARs (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) level. At the end of the study, it was determined that orange peel powder could be used in the diet in order to improve the antioxidant activity of egg yolk without affecting performance and egg quality in quails.