The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary wild-ginseng adventitious root meal on the egg production, egg quality, blood profiles and fatty acid contents of yolks in eggs produced by laying hens. A total of 240 ISA brown laying hens at 27 weeks of age were used in this 5-week feeding trial. Dietary treatments included 1) CON (basal diet), 2) WGM1 (basal diet + 1% wild ginseng adventitious root meal) and 3) WGM2 (basal diet + 2% wild ginseng adventitious root meal). All birds were allotted to one of 3 treatments with 16 replications (5 hens per replication) in a completely randomized design. In this study, egg production was increased in WGM1 and WGM2 when compared to CON group (P < 0.05). Birds fed WGM-supplemented diets had a higher lymphocyte (P < 0.05) levels but lower (P < 0.05) cholesterol and triglyceride concentration compared with those fed CON diet. In terms of the yolk fatty acid content, lower palmitic acid, stearic acid and saturated fatty acid contents and saturated fatty acid/unsaturated fatty acid ratios were noted in WGM1 and WGM2 groups, relative to CON group (P < 0.05). The linoleic acid, eicosanoic acid, and unsaturated fatty acid contents in WGM groups were higher than those in CON group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation with wild ginseng adventitious root meal increased egg production, and reduced serum cholesterol concentrations in laying hens. The inclusion of ginseng adventitious root meal reduced SFA and increased the PUFA and PUFA:SFA ratio in egg yolk. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
