Prospects for the development and utilization of natural pigment lutein

Adding natural lutein to feeds is not just to improve the color of livestock and its products, carotenoids and lutein extracted from leafy vegetables and marigolds, have been shown to be immune to birds and mammals. Has an activation effect. Lutein in the diet stimulates the antibody response to the infectious bronchitis virus vaccine. Thus, in addition to producing functional eggs, the addition of lutein seems to increase the potency of the vaccine, which is beneficial to the health of the poultry. Numerous medical studies have shown that lutein is an excellent antioxidant that prevents a series of diseases caused by organ aging, such as vision loss and blindness caused by degeneration of senile eye retinal macular, preventing cell aging and the body ( Organ) aging to prevent cardiovascular sclerosis, coronary heart disease and tumor disease. The pigment material in the egg yolk is mainly carotenoid, and 100 g egg yolk contains 7.3 mg lutein, 3.1 mg zeaxanthin and 4.0 mg carotene. Therefore, the development and utilization of natural pigment lutein in animal husbandry not only improves the quality of laying hen products, but also has valuable health care functions for consumers.