Effects of lipid sources on the growing performance and carcass and meat quality of broiler grillers
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to increase the amount of n-3 fatty acids (FA) in the edible part of broiler grillers dedicated to export market by replacing soybean oil by different levels of extruded linseeds (LS) and rapeseed (RS) oil in growing and finishing diets. For that purpose, 2112 chickens from JV15 line were distributed into four groups. Each group comprised eight pens with 66 chickens per pen. The groups were: G1=control diet, G2=3- 5% LS + 2- 1% RS, G3=4-6% LS + 1.6-1% RS, G4=5-7% LS + 1-1% RS. The growing performance were recorded. At 31 days of age, all chickens were slaughtered in a commercial slaughter plant at an average weight of 1322 g. Thirty carcasses per group were cut to determine cut yields. The edible part of half carcass was removed to determine the chemical composition and FA composition of meat with skin. The sensorial quality of thigh meat was evaluated on 20 carcasses per group after roasting. The dietary treatment had no effect on the growing performance neither on carcass composition. There was no difference between groups for the sensorial quality of thigh meat. The differences between groups only concerned the FA composition of meat plus skin with higher levels of n-3 FA in groups G2 to G4 compared to G1 (P < 0.05). In conclusion, it is possible to enrich with n-3 FA meat plus skin of broiler grillers dedicated to export (0.4 to 0.5 g n-3 FA/100 g meat plus skin vs. 0.3 g in control group) without modifying growing performance, carcass composition and sensorial quality of thigh meat.