title: Is it possible to increase n-3 fatty acid content of meat without affecting its technological and/or sensory quality and the growing performance of chickens?
abstract: The aim of this study was to increase the content of n-3 fatty acids (FA) of meat without affecting its sensory and/or technological properties or the growth performance of chickens reared under standard conditions. Male chickens, Ross 308, were distributed into 5 groups corresponding to 5 different diets for the growing and finishing periods: control (T), containing extruded linseeds exhibiting high concentration of fibre (ELHF), extruded linseeds exhibiting low concentration of fibre (ELLF), microalgae, or an association of 75% ELLF and 25% MA (ELLF+MA). The diet containing microalgae induced a decrease in feed consumption without affecting growth rate. Chickens exhibited a lower feed conversion ratio than the other groups for the growing and finishing periods but also the whole rearing period. The use of linseeds in diets had no effect on the growth performance of chickens in comparison to the control group. The dietary enrichment with n-3 FA had few effects on carcass composition or the ultimate pH and colour of breast meat. The microalgae increased the meat susceptibility to oxidation. The lipid content of breast meat was not affected by the diets. The breast meat of chickens fed on diets containing linseeds and/or microalgae had greater n-3 FA content (2.4 to 3.9 times higher than group T). The linseeds and microalgae mainly increased the contents in linolenic acid and long chain n-3 FA, respectively. Dietary enrichment with n-3 FA had no effect on the sensory quality of fillets whereas the thighs of the MA group exhibited the lowest score for the flavour "chicken" and the greatest score for the flavour "abnormal" corresponding to a fish flavour.
authors.affiliation: a INRA, UR 83 Recherches Avicoles , F-37380 Nouzilly , France.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baeza
authors.affiliation: a INRA, UR 83 Recherches Avicoles , F-37380 Nouzilly , France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chartrin
authors.affiliation: a INRA, UR 83 Recherches Avicoles , F-37380 Nouzilly , France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lessire
authors.affiliation: b INRA, UE 1206 Elevage Alternatif et Santé des Monogastriques, Domaine du Magneraud , F-17700 Saint-Pierre d'Amilly , France.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Meteau
authors.affiliation: c Valorex, La Messayais , F-35210 Combourtillé , France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chesneau
authors.affiliation: c Valorex, La Messayais , F-35210 Combourtillé , France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guillevic
authors.affiliation: d INRA, UMR 1348 PEGASE , F-35590 Saint-Gilles , France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mourot
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000032:analysis*; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D019597:Flax / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D058086:Microalgae / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004043:Dietary Fiber; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3