Dietary inclusion of beetroot (Beta vulgaris): Impacts on egg production, egg quality, and physiological status of commercial laying hens

This study evaluated the effects of dietary beet root powder (BRP; <i>Beta vulgaris</i>) supplementation on egg production, egg quality, and physiological status of commercial laying hens. A total of 108 ISA Brown hens (40 weeks old) were randomly allocated into three dietary treatments: a control group (basal diet without BRP), BRP-0.5 % (basal diet with 0.5 % BRP), and BRP-1 % (basal diet with 1.0 % BRP) for eight weeks. Each treatment included 36 hens, divided into four replicates of nine birds. Supplementation with 1 % BRP significantly (<i>P</i> < 0.05) increased egg weight and egg mass compared with the control, without altering hen-day egg production, external, and internal quality of eggs. Meanwhile, BRP-1 % improved the feed conversion ratio (<i>P</i> < 0.05) without affecting the feed intake. Fatty acid analysis revealed a significant reduction (<i>P</i> < 0.05) in total saturated fatty acids, particularly in palmitic acid (C16:0) in the BRP-1 % group. Moreover, BRP-1 % showed a significant increase (<i>P</i> < 0.05) in linolenic acid (C18:3, omega-3) and total omega-3 fatty acids relative to the other groups. Amino acid profiling showed the highest rise in glutamic acid, with BRP-1 % significantly higher (<i>P</i> < 0.05) than the control. Additionally, BRP-1 % supplementation significantly reduced (<i>P</i> < 0.05) serum total cholesterol and triglyceride levels contrast to the control and BRP-0.5 % groups. Finally, this study suggests that 1 % BRP supplementation can be applied in laying hen diets to improve egg quality, egg yolk fatty acid profile, and lipid metabolism of laying hens without compromising health and egg production.