Simultaneous Enrichment of Eggs With PUFAs and Antioxidants

The recent data indicate that a designer egg enriched in vitamin E, lutein, DHA, and Se can be not only a good nutritional product but also a good vector for the delivery of four essential nutrients vital for human health. A crucial feature of these designer eggs is the synergistic combination of n-3 fatty acids with major antioxidants, vitamin E, lutein and Se, as an important approach to the improvement of the human diet. These eggs will not be able to replace vegetable and fruits as a major source of natural antioxidants and fish products as a source of DHA but can substantially improve the diet, especially in countries like Scotland, significantly contributing to the recommended daily intake of vitamin E, lutein, DHA, and Se. Commercially, it is possible to produce designer eggs enriched with four nutrients or with three, two or one nutrient(s) depending on the consumer demand. As a result, price for the production of such eggs could substantially vary. Therefore the way of egg to the functional food category started successfully and now it is consumer education which is needed to fulfill the idea of using eggs as functional food.