Borassus aethiopum Ripe Fruits’ Dried Pulp as a Feed Additive for Coturnix coturnix japonica Egg Yolks Coloration

Tagouèlbè Tiho, Nahoulé Silué, Yapo Yapi and Nogbou Assidjo

Background and Objective: The acceptance of Borassus aethiopum (Ba) ripe fruits’ dried pulp by laying Coturnix coturnix japonica hens and its capacity to color the egg yolks were assessed. Materials and Methods: Seven diets were made, and comprised of 60% yellow corn-based (YC), 60% white corn-based (WC) and following some white corn was substituted by 1, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10% of Borassus aethiopum mature fruits’ dried pulp. Then, these diets were named WC+1, WC+2.5, WC+5, WC+7.5 and WC+10%Ba, respectively. Moreover, 140 laying Coturnix coturnix japonica hens of 68 week-old were grouped by 20 birds and each group was fed on a diet. From week 69 to week 74 of age, the eggs were collected and weighed according to the diets. Thereafter, on week 73, 3 eggs of similar weights per diet were selected for egg yolks color and their total cholesterol contents assessment. Results: The WC+10%Ba performed better than other diets. Indeed, WC+10%Ba diet allowed the best laying rate of 79.76% and this laying rate was 13.45% higher than that of YC, the good reference. Additionally, the egg yolks weighed 3.72 g and they were well yellow colored (b* = 66.69), following YC diet (b* = 121.57). Moreover, WC+10%Ba egg yolks average total cholesterol content was 19.56 mg g^–1, like that of YC for 18.49 mg g^–1 (p = 0.231). Conclusion: Coturnix coturnix japonica laying hens peck Borassus aethiopum ripe fruits’ dried pulps. Moreover, added at 10% to a white corn-based diet, it colors the egg yolk without increasing total cholesterol content.

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