Omega-3 egg

Abstract

Today, the most prevalent causes of mortality in the developed and developing countries are those associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This fact has raised concern about the relationship between health and diet, in general, and the dietary lipid profile, in particular. The consumer’s awareness about health benefits of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) is ever increasing. The modern diet is deficient in n-3 PUFA; hence, worldwide efforts, to bring back omega-3 in food chain, are going on. The real task is to make n-3 PUFA a part of their daily wellness strategy. The real challenge is to offer the consumers a wide variety of products which fit into their life style and increase their acceptability. For this purpose, various functional foods fortified with omega-3 are being developed. Among a variety of omega-3-fortified food products, one of the most popular and the innovative functional food is omega-3-enriched egg. As birds are monogastric, the fatty acid composition of bird’s diet usually reflects the fatty acid composition of eggs. Obviously changing the hens’ diet, the fatty acid profile in the eggs can be modified. The inclusion of n-3 PUFA in poultry products is achievable by feeding n-3 PUFA-rich diets to birds. The aim of increasing the n-3 PUFA content of poultry products is to augment the omega-3 consumption in humans. This has opened the possibility to develop “omega-3 eggs” with higher levels of n-3 PUFA for the health-conscious consumer at premium prices. This article reviews the various aspects of omega-3 eggs development, market potential, and health benefits.