Algae usage in producing functional food: A case study on Spirulina platensis for enrichment quail egg

In this study, crude and enriched spirulina platensis with iron and zinc were used in two ways to improve the nutritional value of quail’s eggs as a functional food. The number of 126 one-day old Japanese quail, in 7 treatments with 3 replications and 3 diets including a basal diet (as the control case), basal diet with enriched algae, and basal diets with crude algae (Spirulina consumed at three levels of 2.5, 5, and 7.5%) were considered. According to the results, the uptakes of iron and zinc in spirulina in the logarithmic phase were recorded about 1.7 and 2.8 times, respectively compared to the control group, and this difference in spirulina in the logarithmic phase in comparison with the spirulina in the maximum growth stage increased by more than 1 and 3 times, respectively. Furthermore, according to the statistical results, the minimum iron and zinc absorption in the treatments were 5.8% and 24.9%, accordingly, which was significantly different from the control group (p 0.05). Yolk color and a* (redness index) in the enriched treatment of 7.5% showed the highest difference (16.4% and 38.1%, individually) compared to the other treatments (P 0.05).