omega-3 enrichment of broiler meat by using two oil seeds

a 42-d study was conducted to evaluate the influence of full-fat flaxseed (fs) and canola seed (cs) on broiler performance, fatty acid (fa) profile of meat, and the oxidative stability of meat during frozen storage. a total of 324 one-day old broiler chicks were randomly attributed to 6 experimental groups and fed iso-energetic and isonitrogenous diets as follows, c: control (soybean-corn); cs1: 7.5% cs; cs2: 15% cs; cs-fs: 10% fs+10% cs; fs1: 7.5% fs; fs2: 15% fs. negative effect on performance parameters were found by diets containing fs and cs i.e. feeding oil seeds resulted in significantly (p< 0.01) lower body weight gain and higher feed conversion ratio, compared to the control. however, no significant differences of feed consumption were shown (p> 0.05) among treatments. inclusion of fs and cs significantly increased (p< 0.01) the concentration of omega-3 fatty acid (α-linolenic acid= ala) and decreased the content of the arachidonic acid (aa). total omega-6 to omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (pufa) ratio was significantly lower for all fs and cs fed groups compared with the control (p< 0.01). inclusion of fs and cs decreased the oxidative stability of raw meat (breast and thigh) during frozen storage period based on thiobarbituric acid (tba) values (p< 0.01). in conclusion, by adding vegetable sources of omega-3 to the broiler chicken diets, the omega-3 fatty acid content of broiler meat can be increased, which may have beneficial effects on human health.