Análise dos parâmetros de qualidade de ovos de poedeiras suplementadas com páprica (Capsicum annuum)

Abstract

The egg is a highly consumed product in Brazil, as it has characteristics that are attractive to the consumer, such as being a food that contains high levels of fatty acids, proteins, vitamins and minerals in its composition, in addition to having an affordable price, having several applications and be a food that is quick and easy to prepare. For the buyer the visual aspect of the food is something of extreme importance at the time of choice, in the case of the egg consumers tend to give preference to eggs that have more pigmented yolks, because there is an association between the color of the yolk with the nutritional quality of the egg. This characteristic is influenced by the feed provided to the birds, because the coloration is a result of the presence of xanthophilic carotenoids contained in the ingredients that make up the feed, in this way there is the need for the addition of pigments in the feeding of the birds, aiming at the attractiveness to the consumer. Considering the importance of yolk pigmentation, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the addition of a natural pigmentant, paprika (Capsicum annuum), on layer feeding in relation to yolk coloration. The work was conducted at the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Dois Vizinhos, in the laying hens aviary, where 30 birds were used, divided into two treatments, the control and the test with the addition of 1% paprika in the feed, and kept in individual metal cages. Six egg samples were collected on days 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 of the experiment. In addition to yolk coloration, other quality parameters were evaluated, such as egg weight, yolk weight, albumen weight, shell weight, shell thickness, yolk index, albumen index, yolk height, albumen height, yolk diameter, albumen diameter (smaller/dense and larger/liquid), yolk percentage, albumen percentage and shell percentage. The birds were weighed on the same days of egg collection for analysis, to monitor body weight during the experiment, and feed intake measurements were performed by collecting and weighing the leftovers daily. There was a difference in yolk color between treatments in the fourth evaluation period, with the control treatment (T1) presenting a mean of 6,53 on the colorimetric scale, and the test (T2) mean of 7,13. The yolk index (IG) differed in the second period, presenting a higher mean for the treatment with paprika; the bark weight (PC) showed a difference in the fifth period, with lower weight for T2; as well as the variable yolk weight (PG) in the fourth evaluation period.