Meat quality measures the organo- leptic and physiochemical properties of fresh or value-added meat.


Table 1 – Effect of dietary treatments on lipid oxidation (TBARS, ng/g MDA), cooking loss (%) and collagen content ug/mg of wet tissue) of breast meat.


Control TRT


SEM P-value


Treatment TBARS (ng/g MDA) 7.72a 5.89b 0.79 0.03


Cooking loss (%) 22.31a 19.86b 1.329 0.08


Collagen (ug/mg wet tissue) 0.282 0.263 0.038 0.267


WB. In conjunction with the University of Kentucky, a research trial was carried out to investigate the impact of feeding or- ganically complexed minerals on the development of wooden breast myopathy. On day 19, broilers were fed either a control corn-soy diet with inorganic minerals or a corn-soy diet with organically complexed minerals (TRT: Bioplex Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu and Sel-Plex, Alltech). On day 49, the birds were processed, chilled and deboned. Breast filets were scored independently by three judges, according to the procedure proposed by Kuttappan and others (2016). Briefly, manual palpations of the breast filets were conducted to evaluate the degree of hard- ness and categorised as either normal (flexible throughout filet), mild (hardness at cranial region but flexible throughout), moderate (hardness from cranial to the mid-region then flex- ible throughout) and severe (hardness throughout the entire filet). Physiochemical attributes, such as lipid oxidation and water-holding capacity, and collagen content were measured in the scored filets. Birds fed organically complexed minerals had 22% and 15% lower levels of wooden breast and white striping compared to the control group, respectively (Table1).


Minimising damage Additionally, birds fed organically complexed minerals (TRT) had significantly lower TBARS (thiobarbituric acid reactive) formation, tended to have greater water-holding capacity upon cooking, and higher selenium levels in breast tissue compared to the control. There was no difference in collagen content between dietary treatments. While neither oxidative stress nor antioxidant capacity were measured, it is possible that the use of organically complexed minerals aided the en- dogenous antioxidant enzyme system in minimising the dam- age associated with oxidative stress. Previous research has shown that when broilers are fed a diet supplemented with organically complexed minerals in conjunction with a dietary stressor such as oxidized oil, blood antioxidant enzyme levels are heightened when compared to the respective control.


Kuttappan and others (2021) reported an increase in wooden breast severity when fed oxidized oil, which was reduced upon supplementation with dietary antioxidants.


While the formation of reactive oxygen species is a result of natural metabolic processes and can be exacerbated during times of stress, their subsequent damage to DNA, RNA, pro- teins and lipids have detrimental consequences on various bio systems within the animal. Modern broilers may have biochemical modifications increasing their susceptibility to growth-related stress, possibly due to alterations in the effica- cy of the endogenous enzymatic antioxidant system, thereby necessitating a greater need for dietary antioxidant supple- mentation to help re-establish redox homeostasis. The activ- ity of antioxidant enzymes, such as glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase, can be enhanced in tissues with adequate bioavailable levels of Se, Zn, Cu and Mn in the diet, respectively. Organically complexed minerals may be more bioavailable than their inorganic counterparts due to greater stability throughout digestion. Fagan and others 92015) not- ed that the incorporation of selenium into selenoproteins was dependent on the form (organically complexed vs inorganic), digestibility and accessibility of the selenium-containing proteins and peptides (Figure 1).


Multifaceted approach Regardless, the development of breast muscle myopathies, such as wooden breast, appears to correlate to increased oxidative stress associated with circulatory insufficiency and subsequent hypoxia of muscle tissue in modern broilers. While a ‘one size fits all’ approach is unlikely to resolve this issue, taking a multifaceted approach that includes nutrition- al intervention may aid in lessening carcass quality defects, such as wooden breast myopathy.


References available on request. ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 5, 2022 25


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