Effect of different levels of dietary vitamin E (dl-α-tocopherol acetate) on the occurrence of various degrees of white striping on broiler breast fillets

Abstract

White striping could be a potential reason for the rejection of raw breast fillets in the market. The condition is characterized grossly by the white striations occurring on the fillets showing myopathic changes on microscopic examination. Early research has shown similar lesions in the case of nutritional muscular dystrophy, which is a condition caused mainly by the deficiency of vitamin E in the diet. The present study was intended to evaluate the effect of different levels of dietary vitamin E (dl-α-tocopherol acetate) on the incidence of normal, moderate, and severe degrees of white striping, by modern description, on broiler breast fillets. Basal diets adequate for starter (0 to 18 d), grower (19 to 32 d), and finisher (33 to 49 d) age periods supplemented with 15, 50, 100, 200, and 400 IU of vitamin E/kg of feed were used in the study. Each of the 5 diet treatments were fed to 8 pens (53 birds each) of male broilers from a commercial strain. At 49 d, 5 birds were randomly selected from each pen (n = 40 birds/diet treatment) and were processed. Live weight, ready-to-cook weight, weight of the fillets, wings, tenders, legs, and the racks were obtained. The fillets were scored for the 3 degrees of white striping. There were no significant differences among the diet treatments with respect to the weight and carcass yield parameters. Furthermore, the diet treatments did not show any significant effect on the occurrence of normal, moderate, and severe degrees of white striping. However, fillet weight was the only parameter that had a significant effect on the occurrence of white striping. Higher degrees of white striping were seen associated with heavier fillets, which is in accordance with previous studies. Different levels of vitamin E levels used in the present study did not show any significant effect on the occurrence of 3 degrees of white striping. These results suggest that dietary vitamin E level is not associated with the modern condition of white striping in broiler breast meat.