Igor Kralik

Market of poultry meat and consumers’ preferences in the Osijek-Baranja County

Abstract Poultry meat is the most consumed type of meat in Croatia. Yearly consumption of poultry meat amounts to 19.3 kg pro capite. Consumers prefer price-worthy and tasty meat, which is beneficial to their health. This research into the meat market and consumers’ preferences was based on a representative sample of 100 examinees, all residing in the region of Slavonia and Baranja. Among the poultry meat, the majority of examinees most often buy chicken meat (86%), and the rest of them prefer turkey meat (14%). Quality (65%) and price (30%) are the most important factors that influence consumers when buying poultry meat. Almost all consumers prefer to buy poultry meat in its main parts, mostly because of reasonable prices. Even 92% of them decide to buy the most valuable carcass parts (breasts, drumsticks and thighs). In the investigated area of the Osijek-Baranja County, poultry meat is consumed once a week by 86% of examinees.

Enrichment of table eggs with functional ingredients

The research was conducted on 120 laying hens of Tetra SL provenience, which were divided into two experimental groups (K and P), with 60 laying hens in each group (12 replications, 5 hens per replication). The control group was fed standard diet, while laying hens of experimental groups were given modified diet supplemented with 5% of oil mixture, 0.5 mg/kg organic selenium, 200 mg/kg lutein and 200 mg/kg vitamin E. Portion of n-3 PUFA was significantly better in designed eggs than in conventional eggs (3.76% and 1.69%, P<0.001). Ratio of n-6/n-3 PUFA in experimental group was more than twice as favorable as in the control group (5.91 vs. 13.34; P<0.001). Content of selenium, lutein and vitamin E in designed eggs was statistically significantly higher than in conventional eggs (P<0.001). The content of selenium in egg yolks in conventional eggs was 0.053 μg/g and in designed eggs 0.143 μg/g, and in egg whites 0.387 μg/g and 0.662 μg/g, respectively (P<0.001). Lutein content increased from 12.44 μg/g inconventional eggs to 104.95 μg/g in designed eggs, while vitamin E increased from 12.5 μg/g to 19.82 μg/g egg yolk.

Physical-Chemical Characteristics of Designer and Conventional Eggs

The objective of this study was to compare the internal and external quality of conventional and designer eggs. In total, 120 Tetra SL laying hens were randomly allotted to two treatments (K and P groups), with 12 replicates of five hens each. The control group (K) was fed a standard layer diet, producing conventional eggs, and the P group was fed a modified diet supplemented with 5% of an oil mixture, 0.5 mg organic selenium/kg, 200 mg lutein/kg and 200 mg vitamin E/kg, producing designer eggs. Treatments did not influence (p>0.05) egg weight or egg component weights. Designer eggs presented higher albumen proportion and lower eggshell proportion than conventional eggs (p<0.01). Relative to egg quality parameters, designer eggs presented higher HU values (83.99 vs. 80.81; p=0.042), more intense yolk color (14.38 vs. 8.70; p<0.01), and lower albumen pH (8.39 vs. 8.67; p=0.007). Feeding treatments and duration of egg storage did not significantly influence egg yolk lipid oxidation (p>0.05).

The Effect of Feeding Laying Hen Conventional and Omega-3 Enriched Diet on Fatty Acid Profiles in Egg Yolk Lipids

The aim of this research was to enrich table eggs with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA), especially with essential eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). After five weeks of feeding of laying hens with standard and experimental diets, there was analysis carried out to determine the fatty acid profile in egg yolks of both groups. Omega-3 eggs contain statistically significantly (P < 0.05) less sum of saturated fatty acids (ΣSFA) and more Σn-3 PUFA, as well as narrower ratio of Σn-6/Σn-3 PUFA than conventional eggs. If referring to individual fatty acids of omega-3 eggs, there were increased portions (P < 0.05) of α-linolenic acid (α-LNA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), EPA and DHA determined in this research, which was in line with the research objective. Within the presented research, concentration of n-3 PUFA in egg yolk lipids of experimental group was two times higher than that in the control group. The ratio of Σn-6 PUFA/Σn-3 PUFA was reduced from 12.04 to 6.17. Within their enzymatic system, laying hens can act as a bioreactor to naturally enrich their eggs with n-3 PUFA, especially with EPA and DHA. The results of this research proved that the fatty acid profile can be modified by designing of laying hens’ diets with specific forages. Eggs were enriched with favorable fatty acids in the following order: α-LNA > DHA > DPA > EPA.