Table 5.

Effect of dietary natural astaxanthin and storage time on quality of eggs stored at 25°C¹.

Storage time	Natural astaxanthin (mg/kg)	Yolk quality parameter			Weight loss (%)	Haugh unit	Eggshell strength (N/cm2)
		Yolk index	Yolk color	Yolk pH
0 wk	0	0.52a	10.71f	6.01	0.00	83.40	41.92
	20	0.51a	11.68e,f	6.00	0.00	83.43	40.23
	40	0.51a	12.84c,d	5.99	0.00	82.88	41.92
	80	0.51a	14.47a,b	6.00	0.00	82.25	42.45
	160	0.51a	14.89a	6.00	0.00	83.34	43.17
2 wk	0	0.36b	9.17g	6.51	0.65	52.48	41.61
	20	0.38b	12.17d,e	6.32	0.65	59.08	42.59
	40	0.38b	13.67b,c	6.33	0.58	54.93	42.08
	80	0.37b	14.83a	6.30	0.62	52.38	41.71
	160	0.36b	15.00a	6.23	0.65	58.10	41.35
4 wk	0	0.25c,d	10.83f	6.55	6.36	34.87	41.54
	20	0.26c	13.00c,d	6.52	6.62	36.73	41.95
	40	0.24c,d,e	14.50a,b	6.48	6.61	33.68	43.39
	80	0.24c,d,e	14.83a	-∗	6.89	40.07	42.13
	160	0.24c,d,e	15.00a	-∗	6.72	37.05	40.48
6 wk	0	0.15g,h	-∗	6.69	11.93	-∗	42.10
	20	0.15g,h	-∗	6.82	11.50	-∗	42.74
	40	0.18f,g	-∗	6.86	11.57	-∗	41.95
	80	0.20e,f	-∗	6.52	10.83	-∗	41.62
	160	0.21d,e,f	-∗	6.70	11.41	-∗	42.74
8 wk	0	0.14g,h	-∗	6.93	15.66	-∗	42.56
	20	0.13h	-∗	6.76	15.12	-∗	41.80
	40	0.15g,h	-∗	6.78	15.40	-∗	42.05
	80	0.15g,h	-∗	6.63	15.26	-∗	43.52
	160	0.17f,g,h	-∗	6.68	15.28	-∗	41.88
Pooled SEM		0.011	0.205	0.030	0.508	2.145	0.288
Source of variation
P-value	Dietary natural astaxanthin levels	0.081	<0.001	0.476	0.909	0.528	0.986
	Storage time	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	0.981
	Dietary natural astaxanthin levels × time	<0.001	<0.001	0.443	0.944	0.536	0.996

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

∗Not determined because the Haugh unit was very low (<25) and yolk breakage.

¹Data were analyzed by GLM procedure as a 5 × 5 factorial arrangement with dietary ASTA level and storage time as the main effects. SEM = standard error of mean values (n = 150).