Performance and egg quality from commercial laying hens fed with diets containing passion fruit seed oil (Passiflora edulis)

• Grant number: 23/09671-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2023
• End date: August 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: José Roberto Sartori
• Grantee: Vinícius Fardin
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The use of agro-industrial plant residues in animal feed is a viable and sustainable option, avoiding improper disposal. Studies in different parts of plants indicate the presence of bioactive compounds, allowing the use of these by-products as phytogenic additives. Fruits such as passion fruit, with only 24% pulp to be used, have a high potential for studying residues resulting from processing to obtain concentrated juice. Passion fruit seeds, when dried, ground and pressed, release vegetable oil rich in antioxidant compounds such as tocopherol, carotenoids, phytosterols, phenolic compounds and unsaturated fatty acids. These compounds can benefit animal performance and health, also improving the quality of the final product. Therefore, the productive performance and egg quality of commercial laying hens of the Lohmann White lineage fed with diets containing zero, 0.45% and 0.9% passion fruit seed oil (PFSO) during four cycles of 28 days will be evaluated. For this experiment, 192 laying hens at 25 weeks-old will be housed, distributed in a completely randomized design with 8 replications, totaling 24 plots with 8 hens each. In addition, egg quality and oxidation under environment and storage time effect will be evaluated at the end of the experiment.