Dietary functional ingredients: Performance of animals and quality and storage stability of irradiated raw turkey breast

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary functional ingredients vitamin E (VE), Se, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), alone or in combination, on the quality of irradiated turkey breast meat. A total of 480 male turkeys (11-wk-old, raised on a corn-soybean basal diet) were randomly allotted to 32 pens and fed 1 of 8 experimental diets (4 pens/treatment) supplemented with none (control), 200 IU/kg of VE (VE), 0.3 ppm Se (Se), 2.5% CLA (CLA), 200 IU/kg of VE + 0.3 ppm Se (VE + Se), 200 IU/kg of VE + 2.5% CLA (VE + CLA), 2.5% CLA + 0.3 ppm Se (CLA + Se), 200 IU/kg of VE + 0.3 ppm Se + 2.5% CLA (VE + Se + CLA) for 4 wk. At 15 wk of age, all birds were slaughtered, and breast muscles of 8 birds from each pen were separated, pooled, and ground. Patties were prepared using the ground meat, aerobically packaged, and irradiated at 0 or 1.5 kGy absorbed dose. Lipid oxidation, color, and volatiles of the patties were measured after 0, 7, and 12 d of storage at 4 degrees C. The content of VE and Se and fatty acid composition of lipids were also determined. Dietary supplementation of VE and CLA increased their concentrations in turkey breast. Dietary CLA decreased monounsaturated and non-CLA polyunsaturated fatty acids content in meat. Irradiation increased (P < 0.05) Hunter color redness value of turkey breast and accelerated lipid oxidation, regardless of dietary treatments. However, dietary VE, Se, and CLA, alone and in combinations, decreased (P < 0.05) lipid oxidation in meat caused by both irradiation and storage. It was concluded that dietary supplementation of VE, Se, and CLA, alone and in combination, improved the storage stability of irradiated turkey breast meat.