The high-quality functional animal products innovation team of Beijing Institute of animal husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, recently found that adding natural astaxanthin to layer diet can improve the storage stability of DHA eggs, reveal the inhibitory effect and mechanism of astaxanthin on DHA oxidation, and provide theoretical support for the development of high-quality DHA fortified eggs and eggs with double enrichment of DHA and astaxanthin. Relevant research results are published online in food chemistry. It is reported that DHA, commonly known as brain gold, belongs to ω- It is an important member of the unsaturated fatty acid family and plays an important role in nerve cell growth and brain development. The dietary DHA intake of Chinese residents is generally insufficient, accounting for only about 10% of the recommended intake. Eating DHA fortified eggs can effectively supplement DHA, but with the passage of storage time, DHA in eggs is very easy to oxidize and deteriorate, which is difficult to achieve the purpose of dietary supplement of DHA, which limits the popularization and application of DHA fortified products. To solve the above problems, the research team screened a series of natural antioxidants and verified the protective effect of DHA fortified eggs one by one. It was found that adding natural astaxanthin to layer feed could significantly inhibit the oxidation of DHA in eggs, reduce the loss rate of DHA from 14% to 3% when eggs were stored for 42 days, and greatly improve the retention rate of DHA. The researchers further revealed the inhibitory mechanism of astaxanthin on DHA oxidation by combining liposome and mass spectrometry targeted analysis. The research shows that astaxanthin in eggs mainly exists in non esterified form. Using its own structural characteristics, astaxanthin competes for oxygen in the way of continuous self oxidation, inhibits the oxidation of free DHA, reduces the production of lipid oxidation products, and then significantly improves the storage stability of DHA enhanced eggs. (outlook new era)