Comparative Study of Beta-Carotene Content of Egg Yolk of Poultry

*Corresponding Address: LC Nnaji [email protected] In view of the fundamental role of antioxidants such as beta carotene in human nutrition, this study was designed to determine the concentrations of this antioxidant in chicken egg yolks of the preponderant poultry breeds in Nigeria. Among the strains studied include Harco, White Leghorn, and Local chickens. Again, due to instability of beta carotene resulting from enzymatic and the photochemical destruction, storage duration on the beta-carotene contents of the eggs yolk of these poultry breeds was also studied. A spectrophotometer was used to determine the beta-carotene concentrations of the egg yolks at 450 nm. The results indicate that eggs from Black Harco breed had the highest concentration of beta-carotene when fresh but were most unstable upon storage, while those from local breed had the most stable concentration of beta-carotene upon storage.