Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with dl-methionine (dl-Met) and dl-methionyl-dl-methionine (dl-Met-Met) in breeding pigeons on the carcass characteristics, meat quality and antioxidant activity of squabs. A total of 324 pairs of breeding pigeons were selected and allotted to 9 treatments in a completely randomized design, and the birds were fed dietary treatments for 45 d, including a Met-deficient basal diet (BD, crude protein = 15%, Met = 0.25%) and BD + 0.15%, 0.30%, 0.45%, or 0.60% dl-Met or dl-Met-Met diets. Compared with the diet fed to the BD group, dietary dl-Met or dl-Met-Met supplementation effectively increased the carcass yield, semieviscerated yield, eviscerated yield, breast muscle yield, thigh muscle yield, a* value, catalase activity, total superoxide dismutase activity and glutathione peroxidase activity, but decreased the L* value, malonaldehyde concentration, drip loss and cooking loss of squabs (p < 0.05). The relative bioavailability values of dl-Met-Met relative to those of dl-Met were 467% and 376% based on carcass yield and breast muscle yield, respectively (p < 0.001). Moreover, dl-Met-Met was more effective than dl-Met in decreasing the drip loss and improving the antioxidant activity of the breast and thigh muscles of squabs (p < 0.05). As a source of Met, dl-Met-Met, rather than dl-Met, was more beneficial to squabs.
Highlights
As a low-fat, high-protein meat source, pigeon meat accounts for a large portion of the meat consumed in Asia
Compared with the diet fed to the BD group, breeding pigeon dietary supplementation with 0.15%, 0.30%, 0.45% and 0.60% dl-Met or dl-Met-Met significantly increased the carcass yield, semieviscerated yield, eviscerated yield, breast muscle yield and thigh muscle yield of squabs (p < 0.05)
The results of the trend analysis indicated that the supplemental dl-Met or dl-Met-Met in the breeding pigeon diet showed a linear or quadratic curve trend to increase the carcass yield and breast muscle yield of squabs (p < 0.05)
Summary
As a low-fat, high-protein meat source, pigeon meat accounts for a large portion of the meat consumed in Asia. In the past 5 years, there have been approximately 42 million pairs of breeding pigeons in China, and 680 million squabs sold every year; the total squab production in China accounts for more than 80% of global production. While pursuing greater quantities of meat products, consumers are increasingly demanding higher meat quality. Pigeons are altricial birds, and squabs do not have independent feeding ability after hatching. The nutrients provided to squabs during growth come mainly from breeding pigeons (males and females). The compositions and nutrient levels of the diets of breeding pigeons play an important role in increasing pigeon crop milk production and young squab slaughter performance [1].
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