Fatty acid profile, oxidative stability, and sensory properties of breast meat from turkeys fed diets with a different n‐6/n‐3 PUFA ratio

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of diets with a different n-6/n-3 PUFAs ratio (7.31, 4.43, and 0.99), resulting from the addition of different dietary oils: soybean, rapeseed, and linseed (diets S, R, and L, respectively), on the fatty acid (FA) profile, oxidative status, and sensory properties of turkey breast meat. After 15 wk of feeding, breast meat yield and chemical properties of the meat were similar in all groups. Raw breast meat of R turkeys had a significantly higher content of all-trans-retinol and atocopherol, compared with S and L. The physicochemical properties of breast meat, including pH, color, drip loss, and cooking loss, did not differ significantly. Cooked meat samples differed significantly with respect to the concentrations of oleic acid, linoleic acid (S and R>L), and linolenic acid (S and R < L). Compared with S and R, breast meat of L turkeys was characterized by higher concentrations of total PUFAs (35.1 vs. 30.1 and 29.3%), a significantly lower n-6/n-3 PUFAs ratio (1.51 vs. 5.43 and 5.07%) and a higher thiobarbituric acid reactive substances content (TBARS; 31.9 vs. 26.4 and 26.7 nmol/g). After 4 months of deep-freeze storage the n-6/n-3 PUFAs ratio did not deteriorate. It may be concluded that replacing soybean oil with linseed oil, but not with rapeseed oil, increased the proportion of PUFAs in the total FAs pool and improved the n-6/n-3 PUFAs ratio, yet it also adversely affected the sensory properties and oxidative stability of meat. Both raw and stored breast meat from L turkeys was susceptible to oxidative changes, as manifested by the significantly higher TBARS concentrations (17.07 and 81.06) compared with those of the S group (10.91 and 53.00 nmol/g, respectively).Practical applications: Studies investigating the possibility of increasing the health benefits of poultry meat have been performed mostly on broilers, while the problem remains poorly researched in turkeys. Our findings show that linseed oil, in contrast to rapeseed oil, is a good source of PUFAs, in particular n-3 PUFAs, that can be effectively transferred from feed to carcass lipids. However, desirable changes in the fatty acid profile are accompanied by increased susceptibility to lipid oxidation and deterioration of the sensory properties of meat. Thus, the linseed oil content of turkey diets should be reduced, or diets supplemented with linseed oil should be fed for shorter periods of time to alleviate the negative effects of linseed oil on the sensory attributes and oxidative status of meat.Abbreviations: BW, body weight; FA, fatty acid; TBARS, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances Eur.

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

“…This supports the findings of many studies that the fatty acid profile of chicken meat depends on the dietary polyunsaturation level (Nguyen et al, 2003;Cortinas et al, 2004;Bou et al, 2005;Koreleski and Świątkiewicz, 2006;Jankowski et al, 2012). Increased dietary levels of vitamin E or both antioxidants in the diets with rape seeds and fish oil was associated with a lower n-6 PUFA content in breast and thigh meat and lower content of n-3 PUFA in thigh meat in comparison with group RF.…”

“…It is responsible for unpleasant odours, loss of texture, consistency, appearance, and nutritional value of the meat (Perez et al, 2010;Jankowski et al, 2012). The thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) test is a method often used for the detection of lipid oxidation in food.…”

“…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. Świątkiewicz, 2006;Rymer and Givens, 2010;Jankowski et al, 2012). When diets contain plant oils rich in α-linolenic acid (ALA), the n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio in carcass lipids decreases substantially, but this is connected to a higher price of feed mixtures, as well as of broiler meat.…”

“…Meat enriched with PUFA (especially n-3 PUFA) may be more prone to oxidation of lipids during storage, and, consequently the shelf-life of the final product may be shorter (Bou et al, 2009;Jankowski et al, 2012).…”

Do rearing system and free-range stocking density affect meat quality of chickens fed feed mixture with rapeseed oil?

“…The positive effect of rapeseed oil (RO) on increasing of PUFA and n-3 FA in chicken meat was documented (Haugh et al 2011). Similarly, Jankowski et al (2012) observed higher concentration of linolenic acid, PUFA, and improved n-6/n-3 ratio in turkeys fed RO in comparison with soybean oil.…”