Ayrton da Silva

Canola meal, with environmentally friendly attributes, lower cost, and previous studies, is an interesting proteic source to partially replace the soybean meal for poultry nutrition. For that, in this work we aimed to investigate canola meal as a partial replacement of soybean meal in finishing poultry diets (21 to 49 days) on the productive performance, also including the impact on the quality, nutritional attributes and antioxidative status of valuable cuts of meat. Ninety-six 21-day-old chickens were assigned to four experimental diets (24/diet), with increasing doses of canola meal (CM 0, 2.5, 5 and 10%). Daily consumption, weekly live weight and post mortem carcass weight and yield were determined. At 24 h post mortem, pH, color (CIE L, a*, b*) and drip loss were measured in the breast, drumstick and thigh cuts. Fatty acid composition and health lipid indexes were also determined in the fresh cuts. The oxidative status of lipids and proteins, polyphenol and flavonoids content in fresh and in stored (7 days-display at 4–6 °C) in vacuum packaged cuts were determined. Including CM, up to 10%, the feed intake and growth of birds was not affected (p = 0.74 and p = 0.87 respectively). In meat, CM significantly decreased the drip loss (p < 0.05), the pH in breast and thigh (p = 0.01 and p = 0.05 respectively), a lower L and b in thigh and increased PUFAs in more oxidative cuts, with a strong interaction between dose and muscle type. There was no effect on lipid oxidation while carbonyls decrease at a 2.5% dose in fresh and stored cuts but there is an increase with higher ones. Flavonoids raise the maximum deposition in meat at 5% CM. In conclusion, CM can be included in finishing poultry diets, but high doses must to be adequately managed if performance and quality of meat criteria are considered together.

The aim of this study was to investigate the oxidative status of poultry breast fillets enriched with n-3 from chia seeds, during retail display. Birds were assigned randomly to a control diet (corn-soy), or a corn-soy basal diet with 2.5s%, 5% or 10% chia seed. Lipid oxidation (TBARS), protein oxidation (carbonyls and total sulfhydryls), color, and heme iron content were measured in fresh breasts and after 4 days of display in a refrigerated showcase. Breast fillets from the control group presented higher values of b*, Hue angle, and Chroma than the 10% chia group, and no diet effect was observed on oxidation parameters. An increase in lipid and protein oxidation and in some of the color parameters (b*, Hue angle, and Chroma) were observed after 4 days of display. In conclusion, up to 5% chia seed can be included in the poultry diet without negative effects on meat quality.