Biofortification of Chicken Eggs with Vitamin K—Nutritional and Quality Improvements

• Main Authors: Siobhan M. O’Sullivan, M. Elizabeth E. Ball, Emma McDonald, George L. J. Hull, Martin Danaher, Kevin D. Cashman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-11-01
• Series: Foods
• Subjects: egg; hen; vitamin K; menaquinone 4; MK-4; biofortification
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/11/1619

National nutrition surveys have shown that over half of all adults in Ireland, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (USA) have low vitamin K intakes. Thus, dietary strategies to improve vitamin K intakes are needed, and vitamin K biofortification of food may be one food-based approach. The primary aim of our study was to establish whether increasing the vitamin K₃ content of hen feed can increase the vitamin K content of eggs, and the secondary aims were to examine the effects on hen performance parameters, as well as egg and eggshell quality parameters. A 12 week hen feeding trial was conducted in which Hyline chickens were randomized into four treatment groups (<i>n </i>= 32/group) and fed diets containing vitamin K₃ (as menadione nicotinamide bisulfite) at 3 (control), 12.9, 23.7, and 45.7 mg/kg feed. Vitamin K₁, menaquinone (MK)-4, MK-7, and MK-9 were measured in raw whole eggs via a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method. MK-4 was the most abundant form of vitamin K (91–98%) found in all eggs. Increasing the vitamin K₃ content of hen feed over the control level significantly (<i>p </i>< 0.001) enhanced the MK-4 content of eggs (mean range: 46–51 µg/100 g, representing ~42–56% of US Adequate Intake values). Vitamin K biofortification also led to significant (<i>p </i>< 0.05) increases in the yellowness of egg yolk and in eggshell weight and thickness, but no other changes in egg quality or hen performance parameters. In conclusion, high-quality vitamin K-biofortified eggs can be produced with at least double the total vitamin K content compared to that in commercially available eggs.