Abstract
The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of dietary vitamin E on growth performance, cellular immunity, carcass characteristics, and meat quality in geese. Sixty-four one-day-old male geese were selected from 1200 goose chicks with the same average body weight (92.5 ± 2.5 g) and subjected to two treatments (basal diet or control and basal diet plus 120 mg/kg vitamin E supplement) with 4 replicates (8 geese per replicate) for 8 weeks. After slaughter, goose meat was aerobically packed in polyethylene packages and stored at 4 °C for 9 days. The results showed that vitamin E supplementation improved the growth performance, carcass yield percentage, and immune response of goose (p < 0.05). The addition of vitamin E in the diet significantly increased the protein and fat content of goose meat but decreased the moisture and ash content with respect to those obtained from the control diet. During storage, meat from the vitamin E treatment showed higher phenolic content and lower thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARSs) and total volatile nitrogen (TVB-N) values than those from the control treatment. Vitamin E supplementation increased the saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in goose meat. However, goose meat supplemented with vitamin E displayed a significantly (p < 0.05) higher PUFA/SFA ratio than those of the control group. Based on the results, it was concluded that vitamin E could be used to improve the growth performance of goose, the meat composition in terms of the protein and fat content, the nutritional value in terms of the fatty acid composition, and the shelf life.
Highlights
The ability to use high-fiber feeds, ease of rearing due to animal behavior patterns, and production of valuable by-products, such as feathers and foie gras, are important characteristics of goose breeding that make it suitable for a sustainable agriculture system
The results showed that vitamin E supplementation (120 mg/kg diet) did not have a significant effect on the average daily feed intake (ADFI)
The interaction between rearing phase and dietary treatment on ADFI was significant (p < 0.01) in phase 3, in which birds fed diet supplemented with vitamin E had a higher feed intake than those fed the control diet
Summary
The ability to use high-fiber feeds, ease of rearing due to animal behavior patterns, and production of valuable by-products, such as feathers and foie gras (fatty liver), are important characteristics of goose breeding that make it suitable for a sustainable agriculture system. The production of fatty livers is considered as a cruel practice and is forbidden in many countries, i.e., in EU countries except. France, because it is a registered regional and traditional French product. The crossbreeding geese used in goose meat production in the world provide a high protein content, low lipid content, and high nutritional quality [2], with high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The free radicals and metabolites generated from PUFA oxidation often bring adverse effects to animal performance and meat by affecting the immune system as well as the nutritional values and food shelf life [5]
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