Effects of clove oil on bioaccumulation of Copper in the quail’s egg

Eggs are nutritious and economic foods in the human diet and are included in several food products due to their various functions in the body (3,4,5,9,10,11,12). The increasing demand for food of animal origin for humans made people introduce new animal species for their alimentary needs (mammals, birds, etc). Among them, the quails, which are very prolific birds, exploited for both meat and especially for their eggs. As far as we know, quail eggs are characterized by a valuable chemical composition, as they are rich in protein and essential amino acids; lipo and water-soluble vitamins; phospholipids (lecithin), but low in cholesterol and triglycerides [13]. quail’s egg contains some metals and minerals naturally. Minerals have important biological functions and it is needed to take them in adequate amounts. Mineral deficiencies may result in many symptoms such as various developmental abnormalities, reduced productivity, loss of resistance to diseases, and some specific symptoms. Essential metals include: Cobalt(Co) ,Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe),Nickel(Ni),Zinc(Zn). Heavy metals such as Ni ,Co, Cu, Fe and Zn are necessary to balance and maintain proper metabolic activity in living organisms. Deficiency in any of the essential heavy metals usually results into improper biological function (1,7,8).The quails are exposed to heavy metals by feed intake. Consequently; the metals are passed to humans through quail’s eggs. These metals could have adverse effects on human health and embryonic development in birds. Copper (Cu) is known to be an essential constituent in animal nutrition. Copper plays a role erythrocyte and haemoglobin production and iron absorption in blood. While Cu deficiency causes anaemia, osteoporosis and depigmentation in animals, excess intake of Cu causes cirrhosis.Quail is often used for investigation of physiological process in the birds, and is also a suitable experimental model for observation of relationship between essential elements and xenobiotics in vivo (2).The aim of this study was conducted to determine the effects of clove (Syzygium aromaticum) essential oil and vitamin C added to the diets of japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) on copper (Cu) concentrations of quail’s egg.Materials Methods one hundred and eighty, seven day-old quails were randomly allocated to three groups with three replicate pens per treatment and twenty birds per pen. The dietary treatments were: 1. Basal diet (control); 2.Basal diet + 500 ppm vitamin C in diet; 3. Basal diet + 100 ppm clove essential oil in diet. At the ages of 35 day, five eggs from each pen were gathered. One gramof each of the sample (mix of albomine and york) was weighed for digestion in 5mL nitric acid, 2ml sulforic acid and 2 ml hydrogen peroxide then put on the hot plate in 60°C to digestion. The samples were put into the volumetric flask, and 25 mL pure water was added (total). The solutions were kept overnight and filtered using a filter paper. The samples were evaluated by AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer). All data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA using Prism5 software at significant level of 0.05.Results and DiscussionMean concentrations of copper in control group (Basal diet) was 4.082±0.20-1, Basal diet + 500 ppm vitamin C was 8.89±0.54 -1 and Basal diet + 100 ppm clove essential oil in diet was 9.75±0.18 -1. mean concentration of Cu in group that received vitamin C was higher (8.89±0.54 -1) than mean concentration of Cu in control group (4.082±0.20-1). Similarly, the mean concentration of Cu in group that received clove oil was higher (9.75±0.18-1) in comparison to mean value of Cu in control (4.082±0.20-1), on the other hand the mean concentration of Cu in group that received clove oil was higher (9.75±0.18-1) than group that received vitamin C (8.89±0.54 -1). Mean level of Cu in group that received clove oil was higher than mean Cu level in that received vitamin C in Japanese quail’s eggs. This difference was statistically significant (p≤0.05). Mean concentration of Cu in group that reaceived vitemin C was significantly higher (p≤ 0.05) than mean concentration of Cu found in control group. On the other hand, Mean level of Cu in group that received clove oil was higher than mean Cu level in control group of Japanese quail’s eggs. This difference was statistically significant (p≤0.05).ConclusionsThe results of this study demonstrate the clove essential oil and vitemine C was effective in incresase bioaccumulation of copprer in quail’s egg