Effect of oolong tea (Camellia sinensis) powder particle size on growth performance, fat deposition, meat quality and antioxidant activity in meat ducks

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of oolong tea (Camellia sinensis) powder (OTP) particle size on growth performance, fat deposition, meat quality and antioxidant activity of ducks. A total of 252 Cherry Valley meat ducks (16 days old) with similar initial body weight (744 ± 6 g) were selected and randomly divided into three groups with six replicates of fourteen ducks (seven males and seven females) each and fed a control diet or one of two test diets supplemented with 1% OTP with two different mean particle sizes categorised as coarse (357 μm) and fine (16 μm) until 42 days of age. Treatments did not affect growth performance of ducks. Abdominal fat yield, subcutaneous fat thickness, intramuscular fat width and serum triglyceride (TG) concentration were reduced (P < 0.05) by fine but not coarse OTP. Both forms of OTP decreased (P < 0.05) drip loss of pectoralis major muscle, but only fine OTP increased (P < 0.05) superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and decreased (P < 0.05) malondialdehyde (MDA) content in serum. In conclusion, fine OTP would be more effective in decreasing fat deposition and improving meat quality and antioxidant activity in meat ducks.