Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary different antioxidants and plant oils on performance, apparent metabolizable energy and protein digestibility, meat quality and meat fatty acid composition of broiler chickens. In all, 480 male broiler chicks of 1‐day old were assigned in a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement 2 × 5 (plant oil sources [soybean and rapeseed oils] and antioxidant sources [vitamin E, Thyme, Rosemary and Satureja essential oils] furthermore control treatment without antioxidant). The results indicated that at 1–42 d of age, growth performance and carcass yield of birds were not influenced by dietary plant oils and antioxidant supplementations. Dietary Thyme essential oil (300 mg/kg) resulted in an increase in crude protein digestibility and birds fed on diets without antioxidant showed increase in the apparent metabolizable energy (p < .01). Birds receiving the combination of soybean oil with Rosemary essential oil had lowest malondialdehyde concentration in comparison to birds receiving other treatments (p < .05) in the drumstick meat. Also, birds receiving the combination of soybean oil with vitamin E had lowest malondialdehyde concentration in comparison to birds receiving other treatments (p < .05) in the breast meat. The results indicated that treatments did not influence water holding capacity of meat. Also, dietary rapeseed oil and Thyme essential oil supplementations, separately, decreased saturated fatty acid (p < .01) and increased unsaturated fatty acid and unsaturated to saturated fatty acids ratio (p < .01) of drumstick meat tissue in broiler chicken (p < .01). In conclusion, dietary rapeseed oil and Thyme essential oil increased in n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the drumstick meat (p < .01) and a combination of dietary soybean oil, Rosemary essential oil and vitamin E decreased the lipid oxidation in the meat of broiler chickens (p < .05).
Highlights
Natural antioxidants have special importance in the maintenance of high growth levels, reproduction and immunocompetence in poul‐ try production
A large proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in dietary plant oils increase the requirement for antioxidants (Cortinas et al, 2005)
Results of the present study indicated that feeding broiler chick‐ ens with rapeseed oil resulted in increasing unsaturated fatty acids and decreasing saturated fatty acids as compared to soybean oil in the drumstick meat
Summary
Natural antioxidants have special importance in the maintenance of high growth levels, reproduction and immunocompetence in poul‐ try production. Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are a group of pro‐oxidants known to increase oxidative stress in vivo in hens and chickens (Gao et al, 2010). The major components of Rosemary volatile oil are monoterpenes such as α‐pinene, myrecene, 1,8‐cineole and borneol These compounds possess strong antibacterial activities (Okoh, Sadimenko, & Afolayan, 2010). Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) is a medicinal herb that can be used as a natural alternative to antibiotics in poultry production but it has inhibitory effects on abdominal fat traits in broiler chickens (Al‐ Kassie, 2009). The effect of dietary different antioxidants (vitamin E, Thyme, Rosemary and Satureja essential oils) and plant oils (soybean and rapeseed) on growth performance, carcass char‐ acteristics, meat fatty acid composition, crude protein and apparent metabolizable energy digestibility and meat quality in broiler chick‐ ens will be investigated
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