The effect of supplemental vitamin E and dietary rape seed oil level on broiler performance, meat and fat quality

The effect of increasing dietary vitamin E levels in diets containing animal fat and rape seed oil on the performance, alpha-tocopherol content of tissues, meat and fat quality, and health of broiler chickens was investigated. A total of 360 Ross broiler chickens were fed diets with the addition of different levels of vitamin E (5, 20 and 50 mg/kg) during the starter (0-17 days of age) and grower (18-42 days of age) periods. Grower diets were supplemented with animal fat with or without 10 or 20 percent rape seed oil. 10 percent rape seed oil supplemented to blended fat increased the weight gains of chickens (P=0.05). With increasing dietary vitamin E supplementation, the level of alpha-tocopherol in the liver, blood serum and breast muscle increased (P=0.01). The level of vitamin E and the source of dietary fat affected the oxidative stability of abdominal fat, but not the organoleptic properties of broiler meat. The increasing proportion of rape seed oil in the feed was accompanied by a decreasing proportion of SFA, and an increasing proportion of PUFA, n-3 PUFA and linolenic acid in abdominal fat