Effects of Dietary Choline, Folic acid and Vitamin B12 on Laying Hen Performance, Egg Components and Egg Phospholipid Composition

In trial 1, a corn--soy basal diet was formulated with three levels of supplemental choline (0, 500 and 1000 ppm) and three levels of supplemental folic acid (0, 2 and 4 ppm) in a 3 x 3 factorial arrangement. Folic acid at 2 ppm increased egg production (p≤0.04). Egg wt was higher at 500 ppm of choline (p≤0.06) and 0 ppm (p≤0.01) of folic acid supplementation. There were choline by folic acid interaction effects on feed intake (p≤0.001), albumen wt (p≤0.005) and yolk wt (p≤0.03). Plasma folate and egg folate showed an increase (p≤0.0001) with added levels of dietary folic acid. Phosphatidylcholine (PC) concentration showed a trend to increase with higher levels of choline and folic acid supplementation. In trial 2, a corn--soy basal diet was formulated with 2 levels supplemental choline (500 and 1000 ppm), 2 levels supplemental folic acid (2 and 4 ppm), and 2 levels supplemental vitamin B12 (0.01 and 0.02 ppm) in a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial arrangement along with a control (no supplementation) group. Yolk wt showed choline x vitamin B12 interaction (p≤0.001). Phosphatidylcholine (PC) showed an increase (p≤0.0001) with added levels of choline, folic acid or vitamin B12. The average value of PC at 500 and 1000 ppm of choline was 152.61 and 164.53 mg/g, respectively. Similarly, the average values for PC at 2 and 4 ppm of folic acid and 0.01 and 0.02 ppm of vitamin B12 were 153.06, 164.07, 155.68 and 161.46 mg/g, respectively. Results indicate that choline, folic acid and vitamin B12 can be supplemented in a synergistic combination to increase egg yolk phosphatidylcholine content by 20 to 25 % compared to no supplementation.;Key words: Choline, Folic acid, Vitamin B12, Egg phosphatidylcholine...