. 2020 Sep 12;99(12):6877–6883. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2020.09.010

Table 2.

Effect of dietary astaxanthin and storage time on quality of eggs stored at 4°C.¹

Storage time	Natural astaxanthin (mg/kg)	Yolk quality parameter			Weight loss(%)	Haugh unit	Eggshell strength (N/cm²)
Storage time	Natural astaxanthin (mg/kg)	Yolk index	Yolk color	Yolk pH	Weight loss(%)	Haugh unit	Eggshell strength (N/cm²)
0 wk	0	0.52^a	10.71^h,i	6.01	0.00	83.40^a	41.92
	20	0.51^a,b,c	11.68^g,h	6.00	0.00	83.43^a	40.23
	40	0.51^a,b,c	12.84^e,f,g	5.99	0.00	82.88^a,b	41.92
	80	0.51^a,b,c	14.47^a,b,c	6.00	0.00	82.25^a,b,c	42.45
	160	0.51^a,b,c	14.89^a,b	6.00	0.00	83.34^a	43.17
2 wk	0	0.43^g,h	9.50^i,j	6.22	3.12	82.03^a,b,c	40.90
	20	0.43^g,h	12.00^f,g,h	6.18	3.23	80.67^a,b,c,d	39.16
	40	0.43^g,h	13.17^c,d,e,f	6.25	2.95	81.98^a,b,c	41.47
	80	0.42^h	14.50^a,b	6.23	3.26	78.55^a,b,c,d,e	37.76
	160	0.44^e,f,g,h	15.00^a	6.18	3.19	83.25^a,b	41.91
4 wk	0	0.44^f,g,h	9.17^j	6.38	1.35	81.77^a,b,c	41.17
	20	0.44^f,g,h	12.67^e,f,g	6.31	1.49	79.68^a,b,c,d,e	41.97
	40	0.43^g,h	13.67^b,c,d,e	6.25	1.48	77.52^a,b,c,d,e	40.56
	80	0.44^f,g,h	14.67^a,b	6.38	1.45	77.78^a,b,c,d,e	38.81
	160	0.44^f,g,h	15.00^a	6.36	1.44	75.98^a,b,c,d,e	41.94
6 wk	0	0.47^b,c,d,e,f,g	9.17^j	6.49	2.32	72.13^d,e	41.11
	20	0.48^a,b,c,d,e,f	13.00^d,e,f	6.49	2.18	73.25^c,d,e	38.73
	40	0.50^a,b,c,d	13.67^b,c,d,e	6.56	2.18	78.68^a,b,c,d,e	42.57
	80	0.51^a,b,c	14.67^a,b	6.55	2.27	76.85^a,b,c,d,e	40.42
	160	0.51^a,b	15.00^a	6.39	2.26	82.00^a,b,c	40.71
8 wk	0	0.45^d,e,f,g,h	9.50^i,j	6.32	2.49	71.20^e	40.22
	20	0.46^c,d,e,f,g,h	12.50^e,f,g	6.44	2.59	74.52^a,b,c,d,e	41.54
	40	0.47^b,c,d,e,f,g	14.17^a,b,c,d	6.38	2.56	74.08^b,c,d,e	42.36
	80	0.49^a,b,c,d,e	15.00^a	6.27	2.46	77.22^a,b,c,d,e	43.44
	160	0.51^a,b,c	15.00^a	6.47	2.44	80.47^a,b,c,d	41.58
Pooled SEM		0.003	0.168	0.017	0.090	0.442	0.299
Source of variation
P-value	Dietary natural astaxanthin levels	0.023	<0.001	1.000	0.586	0.065	0.386
	Storage time	<0.001	0.100	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	0.320
	Dietary natural astaxanthin levels × time	0.032	<0.001	0.146	0.237	0.003	0.743

^a^–^jMean values within a column without common superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05).

Data were analyzed by GLM as a 5 × 5 factorial arrangement of dietary ASTA level and storage time as the main effects. SEM = standard error of mean values (n = 150).