Influence of coconut oil and sunflower oil on plasma and liver lipid profile and production performance in Japanese quail (Coturrix coturnix japonica)
Loading...
Files
Date
1997
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy
Abstract
The role of dietary factors in the genesis and development of atherosclerosis has been associated with elevated serum cholesterol levels, both in man and animals. Coconut oil has been a dietary component for keralites from time immemorial. There are several reports implicating coconut oil (a saturated fat) as one of the major factors involved in the production of increased blood cholesterol level leading to the increased incidence of cardio vascular disease (CVD) in human beings and animals. Nosystematic investigation has been carried out so far to study how increasing unsaturation of the oil affects lipid metabolism in warding off atherosclerosis. In addition to the chain length of fatty acids their relative position in the triglyceride molecule appears to affect their potency for atherogenicity. Gingelly oil is commonly used as one of the energy source in poultry feed and sunflower oil is also gaining popularity now a days, since many reports indicated that feeding of unsaturated fat decreased the cholesterol content in the body. Hence it was thought worthwhile to study the influence of these three oils on the levels of total lipid, triglyceride, total cholesterol and phospholipid in plasma and liver, the concentration of HDL – cholesterol and (VLDL + LDL) – cholesterol in plasma, weight of the liver and the level of total cholesterol in egg yolk. The production performance under these dietary oils was also assessed in Japanese quails by recording the egg production, egg weight and egg mass, feed consumption, body weight and feed efficiency.
A total number of 72 (36 males and 36 females), four –week old Japanese quails of the same strain (egg type) and hatch were procured from the Kerala Agricultural University Poultry Farm, Mannuthy and divided into three main groups (12 males and 12 females in each main group viz. G1,GII, GIII) and then subdivided to 12 males and 12 females as M-I, M-II and M-III (males) and F-I, F-II and F-III (females).The birds were provided grower ration upto sixth week of age and then adult ration, from the sixth to the 10th week of age in males and 16th week of age in females. The standard ration was incorporated with the different dietary oils at 2 percent level viz. GI (MI and F-I) with gingelley oil, GII (MII and F-II) with coconut oil and GIII (MIII and F-III) with sunflower oil. Feed consumption, egg production and egg weight were recorded daily and body weight recorded weekly. The eggs from the three groups (F-I, F-II and F-III) were collected on the last day of 14th, 15th and 16th week of age, weighed and stored at 40c for biochemical analyses. The male birds were sacrificed at the 10th week of age and females at the 16th week of age. The weight of the liver noted and plasma and liver stored at – 200C for analysis.
Total lipid, triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL – cholesterol (VLDL + LDL) Cholesterol and phospholipid in plasma of male and female Japanese quails were not significantly different among the groups, since the normal level (2%) of oils used in the present study was not able to exert any significant influence on the lipid metabolism to quails.
The total lipid content in the liver in male quails was not significantly different among the groups. In the female quails the total lipid content in liver of gingelley oil fed group (F-I) was significantly higher than that of coconut oil fed (F-II) and sunflower oil fed (F-III) groups. Lower triglyceride lipase activity in coconut oil and sunflower oil fed groups, which causes decreased break down of triglyceride in adipose tissue and lower transportation of fatty acids to liver in these two groups. Irrespective of sex the triglyceride and total cholesterol content in liver were not significantly different among the groups.
The liver phospholipid content in male quails of gingelley oil fed group (MI) was significantly higher than that of sunflower oil fed group (MIII). Sunfloweroil (unsaturated fatty acids) causes enhanced faecal excretion of free fatty acids.
The total lipid, triglyceride, (VLDL + LDL) – cholesterol and phospholipid in plasma were significantly higher in adult female quails compared to male in all the groups. In the laying bird lipids are sysnthesised in the liver and transported to the ovary in the form of lipoproteins. This is the reason for higher total lipid, triglyceride and phospholipid in plasma of laying hen (VLDL + LDL) – cholesterol content was also higher in the female quails since they are the transport form of cholesterol from liver to the ovary.
The total cholesterol and HDL – cholesterol were higher in male quails compared to females, since the cholesterol is not eliminated through the egg yolk and are mainly found along with the HDL fraction in males unlike females. The total lipid, triglyceride and total cholesterol content in liver of female quails were significantly higher than that of male quails. There was higher lipid synthesis in the liver of female quails under the influence of oestrogen. There was no significant difference in the liver phospholipid content between male and female quails .
No significant difference in the weight of the liver among the groups in both male and female Japanese quails could be noticed. However, weight of the liver in females was significantly higher than the males in each group.
There was no significant difference in the total lipid and total cholesterol content in egg yolk among the groups, at the 14th, 15th and 16th week of age. This was because the total lipid and total cholesterol content in the egg yolk has to be maintained at a constant level in order to create a favourable environment for the development of the embryo.
Female quails attained sexual maturity earlier at the end of fifth week (38 to 41 days of age). Egg production started on the 38th day in groups F-II and F-III while it was on the 41st day in group F-I. The egg production was lower in gingelley oil fed group (F-I) than coconut oil fed group (F-II) may be due to lower mineral absorption in gingelley oil fed group. The egg weight was higher in sunflower oil fed group (F-III) than coconut oil fed group (F-II) since sunflower oil in the diet causes higher protein retention. The egg mass was not significantly different among the groups. However, the egg weight and egg mass significantly increased with age.
There was no significant difference in feed intake among the groups in both male and female Japanese quails as the caloric value of the feeds were the same. Female quails had higher feed intake than males due to their higher growth rate.
The body weight of the male quails was not significantly different among the groups. The body weight in gingelley oil fed group was the lowest among the female quails during most part of the experimental period, since there is lower mineralization of bones in that group. The body weight of female quails in the three groups was significantly higher than that of males.
Feed efficiency was not different among the groups in male Japanese quails. Among the female Japanese quails coconut oil (F-II) and sunflower oil (F-III) fed groups had better feed efficiency than gingelley oil fed group (F-I), lower rate of absorption of minerals in gingelley oil fed group (F-I) may the reason for the lowest feed efficiency and body weight.
In order to arrive at a conclusion as to which of the particular oil is ideal for health and for better production performance in Japanese quails, higher levels of oils are to be incorporated and a more detailed study is required.
Description
PG
Keywords
null
Citation
171254