Brown rice, selenium yeast and ?-tocopherol acetate in chicken’s diet: effects on meat quality

Abstract

The effects of diet supplementation with ?-tocopherol acetate (VE) and selenium yeast (SeL) on the water holding capacity (WHC), cooking weight loss (CL), drip loss (DL), pH, colour and selenium concentration of the breast of chickens fed diets based on corn or brown rice were studied. From 21 days of age, a total of 200 birds were housed in 38 floor pens (experimental unit) in a randomised 23 factorial arrangement. The levels of supplementation were VE (0 and 200 mg/kg), organic selenium (0 and 0.3 ppm) and two diets (100% corn and 100% brown rice) in a total of eight treatments: T1) corn + 0 SeL + 0 VE (control); T2) corn + 200 mg/kg VE + 0 SeL; T3) corn + 0 VE + 0.3 ppm SeL; T4) corn + 200 mg/kg VE + 0.3 ppm SeL; T5) brown rice + 0 VE +0 SeL; T6) brown rice + 200 mg/kg VE + 0 SeL; T7) brown rice + 0 VE + 0.3 ppm SeL; T8) brown rice + 200 mg/kg VE + 0.3 ppm SeL. The concentration of selenium in the breast increased with VE supplementation in the diet (P < 0.001). However, a positive interaction between VE and SeL on selenium concentration in the meat was found (P = 0.06). A better WHC with the inclusion of SeL and VE was found only in the rice-based diets. The replacement of corn by brown rice decreased (P < 0.05) the yellowness of the meat. CL and DL were not significantly affected by the treatments. Broilers fed with SeL supplemented diets showed a higher pH in the breast than diets without supplementation. In conclusion, the interaction between VE and SeL increased selenium in meat but improved WHC only in rice-based diets. The replacement of corn by brown rice decreased the yellowness of chicken breast meat.