Functional egg production. III. The role of the carotenoids

Recent growth of public awareness on the role of carotenoids (especially xanthophylls) in the prophylaxis and dietotherapy of certain oncologic, cardiovascular, and ocular diseases in human related to antioxidative and immunomodulating properties (E. Bakan et al., 2014) made these substances used earlier for the improvement of egg yolk color (and, as a consequence, attractibility of the eggs for consumers) valuable target substances in the production of dietetic, designer, and functional eggs (V.P. Singh et al., 2012). High bioavailability of carotenoids from table eggs due to the solubilization in yolk lipids makes the eggs a suitable source of carotenoids for the enrichment of human diet (H.-Y. Chung et al., 2004). In the study presented different aspects of practical production of functional eggs enriched with carotenoids are reviewed: the sources of carotenoids in the diets for laying hens and their comparative efficacy; metabolism of carotenoids in hens and its relation to the metabolism of lipids; the effects of different xanthophyll sources on health and productivity in hens, egg quality, the intensity of yolk coloration, concentrations of xanthophylls in yolk...