Inclusion of Flaxseed, Broken Rice, and Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) in Broiler Chicken Ration Alters the Fatty Acid Profile, Oxidative Stability, and Other Functional Properties of Meat

Abstract

The objective of the study is to evaluate the fatty acid profile, oxidative stability, and other associated quality attributes of broiler chicken meat as affected by feeding ration containing flaxseed, broken rice, and distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Six dietary treatments are formulated with no flaxseed in the first one and 10% in the other five; and 20% broken rice, 40% broken rice, 5% DDGS, and 10% DDGS in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth treatments, respectively. No dietary effects are observed on body weight gain, but 10% flaxseed along with either broken rice or DDGS increases feed intake of birds. The flaxseed significantly reduces feed efficiency of birds which is further reduces by 10% DDGS. The flaxseed significantly increases the ω‐3 PUFA, ω‐3:ω‐6, PUFA:SFA, MUFA:SFA, UFA:SFA ratios with consequent decrease in percentage of saturated fatty acids (SFA), atherogenic index, and thrombogenic index of broiler chicken meat, which is furthered by DDGS inclusion. Flaxseed inclusion significantly reduces cholesterol, fat, water holding capacity (WHC), and antioxidant capacity, whereas, it increases the pH (fresh meat), drip loss, and lipid peroxidation of broiler chicken meat. Inclusion of DDGS levels further increases drip loss, and lipid peroxidation, whereas, it further reduces WHC, extract release volume (ERV), and antioxidant capacity of broiler chicken meat. The study indicates that inclusion of 10% flaxseed along with 5% or 10% DDGS improves chicken meat fatty acid profiles, health related indices, and reduces the cholesterol and fat content, but compromises the feed efficiency of birds and the oxidative stability of meat. Practical Application: The inclusion of 10% flaxseed along with 5% or 10% DDGS increases PUFA content, ω‐3/ω‐6 ratio, and decreases the saturated fatty acid content of broiler chicken meat. The 10% flaxseed also reduces the cholesterol and fat content of meat. This designed meat can help reduce the incidences of cardiovascular diseases. The flaxseed and DDGS inclusion reduces WHC and increases drip loss which may have detrimental effects on further processing of meat. However, both flaxseed and DDGS inclusion compromises the oxidative stability of meat and feed efficiency of birds which reflects badly on shelf life of meat and profitability of broiler production. Thus, it needs to be addressed by adding suitable antioxidant in the broiler ration. As a result of changing food habits among people cardiovascular diseases are on the rise, the treatment costs of which are economically highly regressive. Here comes into play, the famous quote of Hippocrates “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Designing the food we eat will help prevent these cardiovascular diseases. In this regard flaxseed and DDGS inclusion in broiler chicken ration results in ω‐3 fatty acid enriched meat with health promoting effects.

Role of Flaxseed Meal Feeding for Different Durations in the Lipid Deposition and Meat Quality in Broiler Chickens

“…The present results revealed no significant effects of 100 g FSM feeding on the pH and color of broiler chicken meat. In agreement with these findings, various reports have shown no significant effect of flaxseed levels on the pH (Anjum et al, ) and color of broiler chicken meat (Betti et al, ; Mir et al, , b). Similarly, the flaxseed/flaxseed oil/fish oil in swine had no significant effect on the meat pH and color values of pork (Haak et al, ; Martínez‐Ramírez et al, ).…”

“…Thus, the addition of certain antioxidants such as vitamin E, selenium, lysine, chromium, etc. along with the flaxseed in the broiler chicken diets will prevent the lipid oxidation problem of the ω‐3 enriched meat (Mir et al, , , b).…”

“…This can be attributed to the fact that the FSM feeding increases the unsaturation of muscle tissues, which renders it more susceptible to lipid peroxidation resulting in more free radical generation. The free radicals have been reported to cause protein degradation, which reflects negatively on the WHC, ERV, and drip loss of broiler chicken meat (Mir et al, , , b). Similar to the present study, a significantly higher drip loss with an increased duration of flaxseed feeding was reported (Betti et al, ).…”

“…Furthermore, the activity of desaturases, involved in the synthesis of long‐chain PUFA such as EPA and DHA, also depends on the availability of different precursors, and this synthesis is regulated by dietary factors as well (Sprecher, ). In previous studies, significantly improved fatty acid profiles of broiler chicken meat were reported by dietary inclusion of flaxseed; however, it was paralleled by the negative effects on various physicochemical properties of meat (Mir et al, , ). This warrants the optimization of the flaxseed feeding duration to improve the fatty acid profile of chicken meat without compromising its physicochemical properties.…”

“…Health professionals recommend the increased intake of ω‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) because they reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (del Gobbo, ). The decrease of the ω‐3: ω‐6 PUFA ratio due to changing food habits in modern times has increased the incidence of cardiovascular diseases (Mir et al, ). The higher dietary intake of ω‐3 fatty acids such as alpha‐linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) helps contain cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in humans (Siegel and Ermilov, ).…”