The theoretical support of the low soybean meal diets of laying hens with adding nutrient UPro that can improve the albumen quality of eggs was found by the monogastric animal feed innovation research team of the Institute of Feed Research of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences . The results were published online in Frontiers in Nutrition.

Figure 1: UPro improves albumen quality by regulating the protein synthesis, glycosylation and secretion pathways of the oviduct magnum of laying hens

Chief Professor Wu Shugeng said the thinning of albumen and poor egg quality are the serious problems that restrict the development of layer industry in the late stage of laying cycle or when feeding low soybean meal diets. How to improve albumen quality by means of dietary nutrition regulation is an urgent problem to be solved in the implementation of "Extending Raise period of Laying Hens" and "Reducing Soybean Meal in Diets". The current study has found that adding protein nutrient UPro to diet could significantly improve intestinal health, promote nutrient absorption, increase albumen height and Haught unit, and reduce the hardness, viscosity and chewiness of egg whites. UPro regulates the process of albumen formation, mainly through up-regulating the gene expression of Sec23A and POMT1 in magnum tissue, enhancing the glycosylation and secretion pathways of albumen to improve the albumen quality.

The research was supported by the Beijing Innovation Team Project of the Poultry Industry Technology System and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Original link: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.706067/full

By Qiu Kai (qiukai@caas.cn)