Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb
Abstract
The effect of Kalongi (Nigella sativa, L.) seeds was studied on the performance of layers and cholesterol contents of their egg-yolks. A total of 96 White-Leghorn birds of 40 weeks of age and at the egg laying stage were randomly divided into 12 experimental units, eight birds in each unit. These units were randomly allotted to four treatments in such a way that each treatment received 3 experimental units. Four test rations were prepared by supplementing a commercial layer-ration with powdered Kalongi seeds at the rates of 0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%. Effects of feeding these rations on feed intake, egg production, egg mass, egg shell thickness, Haugh unit, yolk index, blood spots, meat spots and total cholesterol in eggs were determined after a period of 12 weeks. Blood samples of the two birds selected at random from each replicate were taken at 0, 6 and 12 weeks. The serum obtained from these samples was analyzed for total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins, high-density lipoproteins and triglycerides. Data on feed intake, feed refused and egg production were used to calculate the feed conversion ratio. Results showed that Nigella sativa seeds significantly (P0.05) change in yolk index, blood and meat spots. The Nigella sativa seeds also significantly (P0,05) u odnosu na indeks žumanjka te prisutnost krvnih i mesnih mrlja. U jaja nesilica hranjenih usitnjenim sjemenkama crnjike zabilježena je značajno manja količina (P<0,05) kolesterola. Ustanovljene su i niže razine serumskih triglicerida, lipoproteina niske gustoće i ukupnog kolesterola, dok je razina loipoproteina visoke gustoće bila povišena dodavanjem komercijalne hrane sa sjemenkama crnjike
