Use of grape seed oil in functional egg production

The present study was conducted to evaluate whether dietary grape seed oil would affect laying performance, egg quality and egg cholesterol level of Brown layers.Twenty eight weeks old layers were divided into 4 groups of similar mean weight, comprising 18 birds each. The birds were fed standard layer diets containing 0, 1, 2 or 4% grape seed oil for 8 weeks period. The birds were housed in individual cages in a complete randomized design. A 16:8 hours light:dark photoperiod was employed. Feed and water were given ad libitum. Laying performance was assessed by recording feed intake, egg weight, egg production daily; egg quality, egg cholesterol weekly and blood parameters (glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride level) biweekly.The results showed that grape seed oil inclusion did not have significant (P>0.05) effects on feed intake, egg weight, egg mass, feed conversion efficiency, and body weight. However, dietary inclusion of 2% grape seed oil increased albumen height, albumen index, decreased albumen width, plasma glucose and cholesterol concentration, and egg yolk cholesterol level.The results obtained in the experiment suggest that providing dietary grape seed oil, especially 2%, could have a potential to produce functional egg production.