The effect of dietary conjugated linoleic acid on egg yolk fatty acids and hatchability in Japanese quail.

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) increased the ratio of saturated fatty acids to monounsaturated fatty acids in yolk and caused embryo mortality. Our preliminary studies showed that CLA had less of an effect on hatchability of quail than chickens. Hence, the objective was to determine the effects of dietary CLA on quail egg fatty acid content and hatchability. Eight male-female Japanese quail pairs per group were randomly assigned to diets containing 0 (canola oil; CO), 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, or 3% CLA for 8 wk. Eggs were collected, held at 15 degrees C for 24 h, and then incubated. Three eggs from each group were collected for fatty acid analysis on the 45th day. At the end of the 8 wk, all quail were euthanized. Liver samples from female quail were obtained for fatty acid analysis. Diet containing 3, 2, or 1% CLA caused 100% embryo mortality after 6, 10, or 12 d of feeding, whereas overall hatchabilities in groups 0, 0.25, and 0.5 were 84, 86, and 64%, respectively. As the dietary CLA increased, egg and hepatic CLA increased, C16:0 increased and C16:1(n-7) and C18:1(n-9) decreased, whereas C18:0 remained unchanged. Diets containing 1, 2, or 3% CLA decreased the C20:4(n-6) levels in yolk (significantly) and liver (inconsistently) lipids. Yolk CLA levels from 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, and 3% CLA were 0.31, 0.90, 1.48, 2.44, 5.88, and 11.2%, respectively. The ratios of C16:0/C16:1(n-7) in yolks from groups fed 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, or 3% CLA were 8.2, 16.3, 20.4, 24.6, 26.1, and 28.6, respectively. The ratios of C18:0/C18:1(n-9) in yolks from hens fed 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, or 3% CLA were 0.28, 0.40, 0.48, 0.49, 0.69, and 0.83, respectively. Quail fed 0.25% CLA had increased egg size, whereas quail fed 2 or 3% had reduced egg size compared with those fed CO. Liver sizes (%) in all of the groups were increased, except for the group fed 0.25% CLA. These data suggest that CLA may affect hatchability possibly by changing the fatty acid composition of the yolk.