ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1566580
This article is part of the Research TopicNatural Compounds/Products and Livestock Productivity: Enhancing Antioxidant Levels, Gut Health, Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Disease ControlView all 34 articles
Theaflavins Enhances Laying Hen Production Performance and Egg Antioxidant Capacity via Improving Antioxidant Status and Regulating Lipid Metabolism
Provisionally accepted
Ling Zhou1
Pinyao Zhao1Jinwei Zhang1Jie Zhong1Yulin Rao1Jia Tang1Longsheng Jiang2Fen Chen2Lijuan Chen2
Keying Zhang3Jialong Peng1*- 1Department of Quality Management and Inspection & Quarantine, Yibin University, Yibin, China
- 2YibinShangougou Agricultural Science and Technology Co., Ltd, Yibin, China
- 3Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Resistance and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
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Theaflavins (TF), natural compounds extracted from black tea, demonstrate various beneficial functions including antioxidant properties and lipid metabolism regulation. However, their effects on laying hens remained unclear. This study investigated the effects of different TF levels on production performance, egg quality, antioxidant capacity, lipid metabolism in laying hens, and egg antioxidant capacity. A total of 512 twenty-nine-week-old Lohmann commercial laying hens were randomly divided into four dietary treatments (0, 250, 500, or 1000 mg/kg TF) in a completely randomized design. Each treatment consisted of eight replicates of 16 birds, and the experiment lasted for 8 weeks. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Duncan's multiple range test, with quadratic polynomial contrasts applied to evaluate dose-response relationships. Results showed that TF supplementation quadratically increased (P < 0.05) egg production, egg yolk color, serum total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), hepatic T-AOC, uterine T-AOC, hepatic superoxide dismutase activity, serum total cholesterol (TC), hepatic TC, hepatic triglycerides, and the expression of antioxidant-related and lipid metabolism-related genes. It also enhanced the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity, T-AOC, tyrosine, and tryptophan levels in egg yolks. TF supplementation significantly decreased (P < 0.05) malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in serum, liver, ovaries, and egg yolks. These findings suggest that TF improves laying performance by enhancing antioxidant capacity and regulating lipid metabolism, while simultaneously boosting egg antioxidant potential.Based on the quadratic regression analysis, the optimal TF supplementation level was determined to be 500 mg/kg.
Keywords: Theaflavins, Production performance, egg antioxidant capacity, Antioxidant status, Lipid Metabolism, Laying hen
Received: 25 Jan 2025; Accepted: 16 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhou, Zhao, Zhang, Zhong, Rao, Tang, Jiang, Chen, Chen, Zhang and Peng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jialong Peng, Department of Quality Management and Inspection & Quarantine, Yibin University, Yibin, China
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