title: Effect of dietary oregano essential oil on performance of chickens and on iron-induced lipid oxidation of breast, thigh and abdominal fat tissues.
abstract: 1. We studied the effect of dietary oregano essential oil (50 and 100 mg/kg of feed) on the performance of broilers, and determined the susceptibility of the resulting broiler meat to iron-induced lipid oxidation. 2. Performance of the birds was unaffected by the experimental diets. Therefore, dietary oregano oil exerted no growth-promoting effect on broilers. 3. Iron-induced lipid oxidation showed that as oregano oil increased in the diet, malondialdehyde values decreased in tissue samples, suggesting that the oil, particularly at 100 mg/kg of feed, exerted an antioxidant effect on chicken tissues. 4. Dietary alpha-tocopheryl acetate supplementation at 200 mg/kg of feed displayed greater antioxidant activity than oregano oil at either supplementation rate. 5. Thigh muscle was more susceptible to oxidation than breast muscle, although the former contained alpha-tocopherol at higher concentration. Muscle alpha-tocopherol is an important factor influencing lipid oxidation, but the influence of polyunsaturated fatty acids and content of pro-oxidants must be taken into consideration too.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Nutrition, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece. bots@vet.auth.gr
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Botsoglou
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Florou-Paneri
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Christaki
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Fletouris
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Spais
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D001940:Breast; D002645:Chickens / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D007501:Iron / Q000494:pharmacology*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000032:analysis; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry; D031341:Origanum / Q000378:metabolism; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D011897:Random Allocation; D013848:Thigh; D013997:Time Factors; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D007501:Iron; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol