The impact of dietary oregano essential oil supplementation on fatty acid composition and lipid stability in eggs stored at room temperature

ABSTRACT

1. In many countries, eggs are not refrigerated and must be stored at room temperature. The objective of this study was to explore the effects of dietary oregano oil (275 mg$/$kg; ORE) versus an unsupplemented control diet (CON) on laying hens on the shelf life and fatty acid profile of eggs.

2. Treatments were randomly distributed into 10 pens containing 27 birds each. A total of 200 eggs were collected from both groups on the same day and were stored for either 0, 10, 21 and 35 d. At each storage time, egg yolks were analysed for fatty acid profile and lipid peroxidation.

3. The main indicator of lipid peroxidation, malondialdehyde (MDA), was significantly lower in ORE eggs compared to CON eggs (p = 0.001). Storage time had a significant impact on MDA concentrations (p = 0.023), with the highest found after 35 d. Significant differences were found for individual fatty acids, saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid and arachidonic acid were significantly lower in ORE eggs compared to CON eggs (p < 0.05). Palmitoleic acid (p = 0.002), linolenic acid (p = 0.001) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, p = 0.001) were significantly higher in ORE eggs.

4. Storage only affected oleic, linolenic, linoleic, arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids (p < 0.05). Total SFA, MUFA, n-6 and ratio of n-3 to n-6 (n-3:n-6) PUFA were significantly higher in CON eggs (p < 0.05). The ratio of SFA to PUFA (SFA:PUFA, p = 0.005) and total n-3 PUFA (p = 0.001) were significantly higher in ORE eggs.

5. The n-3:n-6 ratio was significantly impacted by treatment (p = 0.021) and storage (p = 0.031) with no significant interaction. This ratio is important for human health indication and could lead to the development of designer eggs.

KEYWORDS:

• Oregano oil
• laying hens
• egg
• storage
• lipids

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Morgan Poultry Center staff for their help in the management of the flock, with special thanks to Ralph Ricks for assisting with feed mixing. Thanks to Dr. Rafael Cabrera for the donation of the Ecodiar powder and Gracie Anderson and Richard Delorme for their assistance in the lab.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the United Sorghum Checkoff Program [project # RG002-21]. Technical Contribution No. 7229 of the Clemson University Experiment Station, this material is based upon work supported by NIFA/USDA, under project number SC-1700605. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USDA.