*3.4. Egg Chemistry*

There were no significant treatment differences in total cholesterol and crude fat (CF) levels in eggs produced from hens fed the four dietary treatment groups at any of the time points measured (Table 6). Eggs produced from hens fed the HOPN diet had the lowest content of saturated fatty acid levels of palmitic and stearic acid, in comparison to eggs produced from the other dietary treatment groups at week 2, week 4, week 6, and week 8 (*p* < 0.0001, Table 6). In contrast, eggs produced from hens fed the OA dietary treatment had the highest content of palmitic saturated fatty acid levels in comparison to eggs produced from the other dietary treatment groups at week 2, week 4, and week 6 (*p* < 0.0001). Palmitic fatty acid content was similar between eggs produced from hens fed the control diet and PN Skin diet at week 4, week 6, and week 8 of the experimental timeframe. Moreover, eggs produced from hens fed the OA diet had significantly reduced levels of stearic saturated fatty acid levels in comparison to eggs produced from hens fed the control diet and PN Skin diet at week 2, week 4, week 6, and week 8 (*p* < 0.0001). Stearic saturated fatty acid levels were similar between eggs produced from hens fed the control diet and PN Skin diet at week 2, week 4, and week 8 (*p* < 0.0001).

Eggs produced from hens fed the HOPN dietary treatment had the lowest level of trans-fat elaidic acid in comparison to eggs produced from hens fed the other dietary treatments at week 4, week 6, and week 8 (*p* < 0.0001, Table 6). However, eggs produced from hens fed the control diet and the PN Skin diet had similar levels of elaidic fatty acid content at week 4, week 6, and week 8. Ironically, at week 2, eggs produced from hens fed the HOPN treatment had the highest content of elaidic acid content compared to eggs produced from the other treatment groups. Oleic fatty acid content was highest in eggs produced from hens fed the HOPN experimental diet, followed by eggs produced from hens fed the OA and PN Skin experimental diets at week 2, week 4, week 6, and week 8 (*p* < 0.0001, Table 6). Eggs produced from hens fed the control diet had the lowest levels of oleic acid content relative to eggs produced from hens fed the other dietary treatments at all time points measured.


**Table 6.** Lipid and fatty acid content of eggs produced from hens fed unblanched high-oleic peanut or peanut skins and housed in battery cages.

Two hundred Hy-Line W36 hens (40-week of lay) were assigned to one of 4 isonitrogenous (18% crude protein) and isocaloric (3080 kcal/kg) treatments (5 replicates per treatment) and fed 8 weeks *ad libitum*. Eggs were collected weekly, and 15 eggs/treatment (3 eggs randomly selected/replicate) N = 60 were chemically analyzed bi-weekly at an AOAC-certified commercial lab, ATC Scientific (Little Rock, AR, USA), using standard AOAC-approved methods. N/A = total cholesterol could not be analyzed at week 2 of the study due to lack of sample volume. Each value represents the average values over the bi-weekly period ± SEM. 1 Treatments: control = conventional soybean meal and corn mash diet, HOPN = unblanched high-oleic peanut crumbles (24%) and corn mash diet, PN Skin = control diet supplemented with 3.0% ground peanut skins, OA = control diet supplemented with 2.5% food-grade oleic fatty acid oil. \* *p*-value = differences determined by ANOVA. a,b,c,d Means within the same column lacking a common superscript differ significantly (*p* < 0.05).

> Omega 3, omega 6, linoleic and linolenic fatty acid content was the lowest in eggs produced from hens fed the HOPN experimental diet, followed by eggs produced from hens fed the OA experimental diet, relative to the other dietary treatment groups at week 2, week 4, week 6, and week 8, with the exception of omega 3 content at week 6 (*p* < 0.0001, Table 7). Eggs produced from hens fed the control diet had the highest levels of omega 3, omega 6, linoleic and linolenic fatty acid content, followed by eggs produced by hens fed the PN Skin dietary treatment relative to eggs produced from hens fed the other dietary treatments at week 2, week 4, week 6 and week 8. There were no significant treatment differences in β-Carotene content in eggs produced from hens fed the four dietary treatments at any time point measured.


**Table 7.** β-Carotene and fatty acid content of eggs produced from hens fed unblanched high-oleic peanut or peanut skins and housed in battery cages.

Two hundred Hy-Line W36 hens (40-week of lay) were assigned to one of 4 isonitrogenous (18% crude protein) and isocaloric (3080 kcal/kg) treatments (5 replicates per treatment) and fed 8 weeks *ad libitum*. Eggs were collected weekly, and 15 eggs/treatment (3 eggs randomly selected/replicate) N = 60 were chemically analyzed bi-weekly at an AOAC-certified commercial lab, ATC Scientific (Little Rock, AR, USA), using standard AOAC-approved methods. Each value represents the average values over the bi-weekly period ± SEM. Treatments: control = conventional soybean meal and corn mash diet, HOPN = 24% unblanched high-oleic peanut crumbles and corn mash diet, PN Skin = control diet supplemented with 3.0% ground peanut skins, OA = control diet supplemented with 2.5% food-grade oleic fatty acid oil. \* *p*-value = differences determined by ANOVA. a,b,c,d Means within the same column lacking a common superscript differ significantly (*p* < 0.05).
