Broiler meat fatty acids composition, lipid metabolism, and oxidative stability parameters as affected by cranberry leaves and walnut meal supplemented diets
Arabela Elena Untea, Raluca Paula Turcu, Mihaela Sărăcilă, Petru Alexandru Vlaicu, Tatiana Dumitra Panaite, Alexandra Gabriela Oancea
Abstract
Abstract A randomized complete block with a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement was used to design a nutrition experiment conducted for the evaluation of the relation between walnut meal (WM—6% inclusion rate) and cranberry leaves (CL—1% and 2% inclusion rate) supplements and their effects on tissue lipid profile, lipid metabolism indices and oxidative stability of meat. Semi-intensive system conditions were simulated for 240 Ross 308 broilers and the animals were reared on permanent shave litter in boxes of 3 m 2 (40 broilers / each group, housed in a single box). The current study results showed that the diets enriched in linolenic acid (LNA) (WM diets) led to broilers meat enriched in LNA, but the synthesis of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFA) was stimulated when the diets were supplemented with a natural antioxidants source (CL diets). The CL diet also exhibited the most powerful effect in counteracting the oxidative processes of meat.