Effects of oxidised dietary oil and antioxidant supplementation on broiler growth and meat stability

1. Broilers were fed on diets containing oxidised sunflower oil, sunflower oil and sunflower oil supplemented with alpha-tocopherol, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) or butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). 2. Oxidised oil caused a significant reduction in broiler body and carcase weights, whereas alpha-tocopherol and BHA/BHT supplementation improved growth. 3. Meat samples from these broilers were stored at 4 degrees C and -20 degrees C and their oxidative stability evaluated. Feeding oxidised oil to broilers resulted in meat that underwent rapid oxidative changes during refrigerated and frozen storage. 4. On the other hand, dietary alpha-tocopherol and BHA/BHT supplementation increased alpha-tocopherol and BHA/BHT concentrations in meat and significantly (P less than 0.05) improved the oxidative stability of meat during refrigerated and frozen storage.

Influence of oxidised dietary oil and antioxidant supplementation on membrane-bound lipid stability in broiler meat

1. The effects of oxidised oil, dietary alpha-tocopherol and BHA/BHT-supplementation on the fatty acid composition of mitochondrial, microsomal and soluble protein fractions of broiler muscles, and on their lability to metmyoglobin/hydrogen peroxide-catalysed peroxidation were investigated. 2. Oxidised oil in the broiler diets induced rapid oxidation of the membrane-bound lipids and decreased their stability towards metmyoglobin-hydrogen peroxide-catalysed peroxidation. 3. Supplementation of the broiler diets with alpha-tocopherol increased the alpha-tocopherol concentrations in the microsomal and soluble protein fractions of the dark meat as well as the soluble protein fraction of the white meat. This, in turn, stabilised the membrane-bound lipids against metmyoglobin/hydrogen peroxide-initiated peroxidative changes.