The Effects of Supplementation of Pennyroyal (Mentha Pulegıum L) on Meat Fatty Acid Composition and Shelf-Life in Broilers

This research was conducted to determine the effects of dietary pennyroyal (Mentha Pulegıum L) on meat fatty acid composition and shelf -life in broilers. One hundred fifty day-old Ross 308 chickens were assigned into one of three dietary groups (five replicates each), as each treatment with 10 birds per replicate, in a completely randomized experimental design. The control group received the basal diet. In addition to the basal diet, the two experimental diets included one of the following supplements: 0.25% and 0.50% pennyroyal. At the end of the study, fatty acid composition and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) levels of tissues were measured. At higher doses of pennyroyal (0.50%), TBARS values in breast meat were numerically lower at all storage times. The diet containing 0.25% pennyroyal had a higher (P 0.05) antioxidant effect in leg meat than the other diets. The addition of pennyroyal to compound feed significantly increased the lauric acid, linoleic acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and n-6 in the leg tissues and lauric acid, eicosapentaenoic asit (EPA) and the DHA in the breast tissues. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of pennyroyal positively affected the meat shelf-life and increased the EPA and DHA.