In addition, the eggshell
was significantly thicker in eggs from all groups
fed diets enriched with additional manganese but
not influenced by the source of manganese. The
explanation could be based on the fact that manganese
activates the glycosyl transferases involved
in the formation of mucopolysaccharides, which
are components of proteoglycans (Leach Jr., 1976).
Proteoglycans are present in the organic matrix
that controls eggshell structure and texture and
thus can influence its mechanical properties (Nys
et al., 2001). Our findings are in agreement with the
similar results observed by Sazzad et al