Effect of Sargassum sp. and Vitamin E on Stability of Fish Oil Enriched Meat in Broiler Chickens

The present study was aimed to assess the influence of brown marine algae and vitamin E (VE) (160 ppm ?-tocopheryl acetate) on stability of chicken meat enriched with fish oil. In this study, 360 d-old broilers (Arbor Acres Plus) were randomly assigned to 6 treatment groups with 4 replicates of 15 birds in each. Ex-perimental groups consisted of corn-soybean basal diet (C), corn-soybean basal diet with fish oil (F), corn-soybean basal diet supplemented vitamin E (E), corn-soybean basal diet supplemented fish oil with vitamin E (FE), fish oil with 5% dried marine alga (F 5% A) and fish oil with 10% dried marine alga (F 10% A). Fish oil and vitamin E were supplemented at 2 last weeks of trial. Chickens were slaughtered in d 42 and meat samples were stored at 4 ?C. Malondialdehyde (MDA) was measured at 0, 3 and 6 days after slaugh-ter. Results showed that fish oil enhanced meat lipids per oxidation and with passage of time after slaughter this increment was greater. Treatments using vitamin E showed lower levels of MDA during the storage and increased meat stability in fish oil enriched meat. Marine algae in F 10% A increased meat stability in thigh and breast muscles in 3 and 6 days after slaughter (P < 0.05). Fatty acid profile showed an enhance-ment in omega-3 fatty acids accumulation in thigh and breast samples, significantly (P < 0.05) with fish oil, but vitamin E had no significant effect on this profile. Inclusion 5% and 10% marine algae and fish oil to-gether led to increasing omega-3 fatty acids in thigh muscle. Five percent and 10% marine alga decreased serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels significantly (P < 0.05). In conclusion, administration of diet sup-plemented with vitamin E and marine alga improved stability of broiler’s meat enriched with omega-3 fatty acids.