Dietary Supplementation of Tetracarpidium conophorum (African Walnut) Seed Enhances Muscle n‐3 Fatty Acids in Broiler Chickens

Abstract

The influence of dietary Tetracarpidium conophorum (African Walnut) seed meal (TCSM) on fatty acids, productivity parameters, and physicochemical properties of breast and thigh muscles in broiler chickens are assessed. A total of 180, 28-d-old Arbor acre broiler chickens are randomly assigned to dietary treatments containing 0% (control), 2.5%, and 5% w/w TCSM, fed for 28 d, and euthanized. Dietary TCSM reduces (p < 0.05) feed intake, body weight gain (BWG), carcass weight, and abdominal fat. Diet does not affect feed efficiency and hematological parameters. The control birds have higher (p < 0.05) serum total cholesterol and triglycerides than do the supplemented birds. Diet has no effect on pH, water holding capacity, carbonyl and malondialdehyde contents, and organoleptic properties of breast and thigh muscles. The 5% TCSM has higher redness in breast muscle than do other treatments. Dietary TCSM improves (p < 0.05) the concentration of C18:3n-3 (4.80-8.76% vs 1.56%), C20:5n-3 (0.54-0.79% vs 0.39%), C22:5n-3 (0.64-0.89% vs 0.18%), and C22:6n-3 (0.75-0.97% vs 0.19%), and reduces (p < 0.05) the fat content (2.15-2.45% vs 3.15%) in breast and thigh muscles. Dietary TCSM enhances muscle n-3 fatty acids without instigating oxidative deterioration, but reduces BWG in broiler chickens. Practical Application: Albeit that broiler meat is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), its omega 6 (n-6)/omega 3 (n-3) is >4. Elevated n-6/n-3 could have adverse effect on human physiology thereby promoting the pathogenesis of certain diseases. This heightens the need to enhance the n-3 PUFA content of broiler meat. Dietary TCSM induced up to a fourfold increase in n-3 PUFA content of the breast and thigh muscles in broiler chickens. Moreover, dietary TCSM induced up to a tenfold decrease in the n-6/n-3 of the breast and thigh muscles in broiler chickens. This finding assumes great significance because the health concerns regarding dietary fat are the foremost factors responsible for the bad image suffered by meat. These results provide insights on the potential of TCSM to improve the nutritional quality without compromising the oxidative shelf life, organoleptic traits, and physicochemical properties of broiler meat.

Broiler meat fatty acids composition, lipid metabolism, and oxidative stability parameters as affected by cranberry leaves and walnut meal supplemented diets

“…Recent studies have reported that walnut meal as a by-product 20 , 21 is rich in many nutrients and is a promising dietary source that can contribute to the development of functional foods 22 . It has been shown 23 , that using walnut seed meal in broiler diets decreased feed intake, serum total cholesterol, and abdominal and muscle fat. Also, there was an improvement in n-3 PUFA content in breast and thigh meat without affecting their organoleptic properties and oxidative stability.…”

Growth Performance, Carcass Traits, Muscle Fatty Acids, Intramuscular Fat, Cholesterol, and Antioxidant Status in Rabbits Supplemented with Kigelia pinnata Leaf Meal

“…This observation could be explained by postmortem glycolysis, the conversion of glycogen to lactic acid. [60,61] The amount of drip lost increased over storage. The reduction in muscle pH, which affects the potential of muscle fibers to hold water, may explain this observation.…”

Dietary supplementation of Allium cepa skin alters intramuscular fat, muscle cholesterol, and fatty acids in rabbits

“…The total lipids from pulverized meat and feed samples were extracted using chloroform:methanol (2:1 v/v) as described by Folch et al 34 The transmethylation of the extracted fat and the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS-QP2010SE; Shimadzu Corp, Kyoto, Japan) analysis of the fatty acid methyl esters were carried out as described by Adeyemi et al 36 The atherogenic index (AI) and thrombogenic index (TI) were calculated according to Ulbricht and Southgate 37 as follows:…”