Compound Design Of Chinese Herbal Medicine Additive For Lowering Cholesterol And Its Effect On The Biochemical Index And Egg Quality Of Laying Hens

The aim of this study was to design a Chinese herb feed additive compound which could reduce egg cholesterol content, and improve the production performance, lipid metabolism and immunity of laying hens.In this study, these three kinds of Chinese herbal medicine, namely, Rhizoma Alismatis, Gynostemma and Semen Cassiae were first screened to conduct a unilateral experiment.225 green-egg laying hens of the right age with good body condition and close egg production rates, were randomly divided into 5 groups with 3 replicates, namely, each repeat consisted of 15 hens. The treatment groups were fed with 3 herbal extracts with different concentrations, respectively, and the blank control group was fed without herbal supplements, and the positive control group was fed with 0.58 mg/kg lovastatine during the 42 experimental days. The results of the unilateral experiments showed that all the 3 selected herbs have a cholesterol lowering effect, the 0.5% Rhizoma Alismatis extract can reduce the egg yolk cholesterol content by 24.48%, the 0.06% Gynostemma. extract can lower the egg yolk cholesterol content by 30.37% and the 0.7% Semen Cassiae extract can decrease the egg yolk cholesterol content by 41.37%; at the same time, all the three herbs can improve the production performance, egg quality, and immunity of laying hens.Finally, the extract combination dosages of Rhizoma Alismatis, Gynostemma and Semen Cassiae were experimented to optimize and to explore the optimal ratio for lowering egg cholesterol of Chinese herb feed additives. Using the Box-Behnken experimental design mathematical models based on response surface methodology principle, the hens were divided into 17 groups, and fed 42 days. The control group and the optimal ratio group were established to assess the effect of Chinese herb additives with the optimal ratio. The results indicated that the Chinese herbal optimal ratio is 695.49mg Rhizoma Alismatis extrac、893.14mg Semen Cassiae extract and 334.13mg Gynostemma extract, which means the addition ratio of the three extracts were 0.69%,0.89%,0.33% in the 100 grams of dietary, respectively.In this condition, the egg cholesterol content was 2.48mmol/L, contrast to the blank control group, the feed egg ratio of the test group decreased 33.64%, and the egg production rate increased 11.73%, both which were of significant difference (P<0.05); and significantly lowered yolk cholesterol by 69.90%and triglyceride levels by 41.78%(P<0.05), and evidently improved the immunity (P<0.05).In summary, the Chinese herb additives optimized by unilateral experiment and response surface methodology can well reduce egg cholesterol, improve egg production, which can provide a theoretical foundation for the actual production.