Canola oil and organic selenium in quail diets: fatty acid profile, cholesterol content and external egg quality.

The effects of partial or total substitution of soybean oil (SO) with canola oil (CO) supplemented or not with organic selenium (SeO) in the diet of quails ( Coturnix coturnix coturnix ) on external egg quality, yolk cholesterol and fatty acid profile were studied. A total of 252 quails were fed throughout three 28- day periods with six treatments: Control, (SO); SO + 0.3 ppm SeO; canola Oil (CO); CO + 0.3 ppm SeO; SO (50%) + CO (50%); SO (50%) + CO (50%) + 0.3 ppm SeO. A completely randomized design was used and treatment means were compared by orthogonal contrasts and Duncan’s multiple range test with ? = 0.05. A significant, 4% increase in oleic acid levels in egg yolk was observed with canola oil supplementation, relative to the control and soybean oil treatments. SeO supplementation did not change the yolk fatty acid profile. Neither canola oil nor SeO supplementation affected yolk cholesterol. Egg weight was higher in birds fed CO supplemented with SeO compared with CO alone, but did not differ significantly from that of other treatments. In conclusion, the substitution of SO with CO in the quail’s diet changes the fatty acid profile of the yolk, and increases the concentration of oleic acid while decreasing that of linoleic acid without affecting other egg quality traits. Birds fed diets containing CO supplemented with 0.3 ppm SeO also show increased egg weight.