Effects of carob (Ceratonia siliqua) pod byproduct on quail performance, egg characteristics, fatty acids, and cholesterol levels

This study was carried out to determine the effects of a carob (Ceratonia siliqua) byproduct (CB) supplement in diets for laying Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) on performance and egg internal-external quality traits, fatty acid profile, and cholesterol content. A total of 225 female quail at 12 weeks of age were distributed into five treatment groups with three replications (15 birds in each replication). The following treatments were tested: 0% (control, no CB supplementation); 3% CB; 5% CB; 10% CB; and 15% CB in the diets. Feed and water were provided ad libitum to quail. The lighting program was 16 h light and 8 h dark. The experiment lasted 60 days. Treatments had no significant effects on final weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg production, and mortality. The external egg quality characteristics, shape index, shell weight, shell thickness, albumen index, yolk index, yolk weight, yolk fat, yolk color, yolk cholesterol, stearic acid, oleic acid, and heptadecanoic acid concentrations were not significantly influenced by CB supplementation to quail diets. Haugh unit, egg yolk total saturated fatty acids, total mono or polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid, gamma linolenic acid, palmitic, and palmitoleic acid contents were significantly influenced by the treatments. Carob byproduct can be used up to 15% in laying quail diets without any negative effects on performance, mortality, or internal egg quality traits.