The effect of dietary fat, vitamin E and selenium concentrations on the fatty acid profile and oxidative stability of frozen stored broiler meat

Abstract

A total of 160 Ross 308 female broilers from day 22 to 35 of age were used to investigate the effects of vitamin E and selenium (Se) supple- mentation on performance, fatty acid profile and oxidative stability of meat en - riched with n-3 fatty acids. There were 4 treatment groups, 3 diets contained rape seeds and fish oil (60 and 15 g · kg -1 , respectively - RF), the control diet contained animal fat - lard. To the RF diet different doses of vitamin E and Se were added (80 and 0.3, 150 and 0.3, 150 and 0.7 mg per kilogram of diet, re- spectively). Performance was measured and samples of breast and thigh meat were vacuum packed and stored at -30°C. The concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) was determined after 3 weeks and after 3 months of frozen storage, when also fatty acid profiles, vitamin E and choles - terol contents in meat were measured. Body weight gain and feed conversion ratio were negatively influenced ( P ≤ 0.05) by the increased dietary level of Se. Feeding diets with rape seeds and fish oil resulted in higher concentrations and lower n-6/n-3 PUFA ratios in breast and thigh meat (P ≤ 0.05) compared with the control. The increase of dietary vitamin E, but not Se, increased the tocopherol content in meat and reduced TBARS values in 3-month-stored thigh meat (P ≤ 0.05). It may be concluded that fortification of diets with vitamin E increases its concentration in, and oxidative stability of frozen stored breast and thigh meat, but no additional benefit was observed in feeding excess Se in combination with vitamin E.