Table 4 Effect of the dietary arginine level in a low-protein diet on egg quality¹

 Egg weight, g

63.86 ± 0.49

63.71 ± 0.48

63.81 ± 0.44

63.38 ± 0.47

62.87 ± 0.45

63.18 ± 0.45

0.611

0.135

0.827

 Egg shape index, %

78.57 ± 0.32^ab

79.22 ± 0.50^a

77.98 ± 0.24^b

79.17 ± 0.23^a

78.68 ± 0.27^ab

78.11 ± 0.24^b

0.027

0.131

0.775

 Eggshell thickness, ×10⁻² mm

33.82 ± 0.35

34.11 ± 0.28

33.70 ± 0.27

34.17 ± 0.26

33.77 ± 0.26

33.77 ± 0.26

0.775

0.451

0.951

 Eggshell strength, kg/cm²

4.90 ± 0.04

4.85 ± 0.05

4.72 ± 0.07

4.82 ± 0.07

4.84 ± 0.06

4.91 ± 0.05

0.211

0.230

0.208

 Albumen height, mm

6.41 ± 0.16

6.33 ± 0.13

6.19 ± 0.11

6.08 ± 0.21

6.01 ± 0.13

6.09 ± 0.08

0.302

0.156

0.357

 Yolk color score

7.40 ± 0.18^c

8.04 ± 0.09^ab

7.96 ± 0.13^ab

7.80 ± 0.11^b

8.08 ± 0.13^ab

8.25 ± 0.11^a

< 0.001

0.134

0.029

 Haugh units

77.93 ± 1.11

77.02 ± 1.18

75.68 ± 1.06

75.02 ± 1.86

74.85 ± 1.05

75.06 ± 0.54

0.360

0.232

0.445

 Yolk, %

27.02 ± 0.25

27.56 ± 0.32

27.19 ± 0.21

27.54 ± 0.23

27.47 ± 0.28

27.85 ± 0.19

0.247

0.280

0.237

 Albumen, %

62.25 ± 0.25

61.61 ± 0.34

62.11 ± 0.25

61.67 ± 0.23

61.63 ± 0.31

61.28 ± 0.21

0.124

0.189

0.205

 Eggshell, %

10.72 ± 0.08

10.82 ± 0.08

10.70 ± 0.10

10.80 ± 0.05

10.90 ± 0.07

10.87 ± 0.06

0.327

0.176

0.416

 Egg weight, g

63.09 ± 0.42

63.72 ± 0.33

63.56 ± 0.45

64.03 ± 0.49

64.36 ± 0.46

63.74 ± 0.45

0.443

0.526

0.506

 Egg shape index, %

78.02 ± 0.27

78.85 ± 0.27

78.67 ± 0.22

78.99 ± 0.32

78.64 ± 0.29

78.78 ± 0.35

0.252

0.864

0.970

 Eggshell thickness, ×10⁻² mm

32.04 ± 0.41

32.02 ± 0.25

32.17 ± 0.35

32.87 ± 0.36

32.58 ± 0.49

33.23 ± 0.34

0.126

0.017

0.997

 Eggshell strength, kg/cm²

4.33 ± 0.09

4.40 ± 0.09

4.37 ± 0.09

4.45 ± 0.08

4.40 ± 0.12

4.23 ± 0.10

0.697

0.332

0.260

 Albumen height, mm

5.02 ± 0.04^e

5.32 ± 0.07^de

6.22 ± 0.17^a

5.79 ± 0.14^b

5.40 ± 0.06^cd

5.65 ± 0.11^bc

< 0.001

0.702

0.011

 Yolk color score

7.37 ± 0.13^b

7.97 ± 0.08^a

7.74 ± 0.12^a

7.70 ± 0.09^a

7.65 ± 0.13^ab

7.74 ± 0.08^a

0.008

0.084

0.098

 Haugh units

70.63 ± 0.74^bc

69.29 ± 0.88^c

76.66 ± 1.23^a

73.31 ± 1.10^b

69.98 ± 0.49^c

72.32 ± 0.92^bc

< 0.001

0.560

< 0.001

 Yolk, %

26.62 ± 0.21

26.99 ± 0.19

26.85 ± 0.21

26.78 ± 0.23

26.72 ± 0.24

26.74 ± 0.21

0.878

0.326

0.676

 Albumen, %

63.24 ± 0.21

62.77 ± 0.22

62.89 ± 0.26

62.97 ± 0.26

63.20 ± 0.31

63.08 ± 0.25

0.773

0.240

0.718

 Eggshell, %

10.15 ± 0.10

10.24 ± 0.08

10.26 ± 0.12

10.25 ± 0.10

10.09 ± 0.11

10.19 ± 0.06

0.781

0.319

0.980