Sano (Sesbania javanica Miq.) Flower as a Pigment Source in Egg Yolk of Laying Hens

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate Sano flower that naturally contains high concentration of yellow fat soluble pigment as a pigment source for egg yolk in layer diet. Dried Sano flower (Sano) was prepared and analyzed for nutritional composition and total carotenoids content. Six dietary treatments were: 1) corn-soy basal diet that
contain total carotenoids from corn at 12 mg/kg diet, 2)-4) Sano diet that contain total carotenoids from Sano at 10, 15 and 30 mg/kg diet, 5) mixed carotenoids diet that contain total carotenoids from Sano at 10 mg/kg and synthetic pigment, canthaxanthin at 2 mg/kg diet, and 6) synthetic pigment diet that contain carotenoids from canthaxanthin at
2 mg/kg diet. One hundred and eight 30-week-old hens (Isa Brown) were randomly allocated into 6 treatment groups of 3 replications. Egg production, egg weight and feed intake were recorded. Eggs collected during the last six days of the experiment were used to determine yolk color using Roche color fan scale. Results demonstrated that Sano had
high total carotenoids content. The major carotenoids were β-carotene follow by lutein and β-cryptoxanthin. There was no significant difference in egg production performances (p>0.05). All levels of Sano gave lower yolk color score than corn (p<0.0001). The combination between Sano and canthaxanthin obtained highest yolk color score (p<0.0001).
Adding 10 mg/kg of total carotenoids from Sano in carotenoids-free diet or in combination with cantaxanthin can elevate approximately one unit of Roche’s color fan scale. In conclusion, Sano has beneficial effect for enhancing yolk color.