The influence of dietary pectin on the cholesterol content of egg-yolk and muscle and on various haematological indices in laying-hens.

Studies were undertaken to see if a commerical poultry diet, supplemented with 0, 2, 4 or 6% pectin would influence the cholesterol content of egg-yolk and muscle, the total lipid, cholesterol and protein contents of blood serum, and the erythrocyte count, packed cell volume and haemoglobin content of whole blood, in laying hens. The cholesterol content of the egg-yolk and muscle from birds given pectin was not significantly different from that of control hens. However, the birds which received the pectin weighed somewhat less than the controls at the end of the experiment, and produced fewer eggs, despite the same intake of digestible energy. Pectin treatment also resulted in higher erythrocyte counts, higher packed cell volumes and higher haemoglobin contents in the blood. The variation in the cholesterol content of egg-yolk was significantly lower within layers than between layers. This suggests that it should be possible to select for hens which produce eggs of lower cholesterol content, provided that other aspects of egg-production are not thereby negatively influenced.