Potential application of Fe-methionine as a feed supplement on improving the quality of broilers breast meat.

A total of 250 one-day-old Ross 308 male chicks were used to investigate the effects of Fe-methionine (Fe-met) and iron sulfate (FeSO4 .7H2 O) on performance, mineral concentration, meat quality, and oxidative stability of breast. The feeding experiment was performed with five dietary groups including group I (basal diet [BD] + 80 mg/kg FeSO4 ), group II (BD + 60 mg/kg FeSO4 + 20 mg/kg Fe-met), group III (BD + 40 mg/kg FeSO4 + 40 mg/kg Fe-met), group IV (BD + 20 mg/kg FeSO4 + 60 mg/kg Fe-met), and group V (BD + 80 mg/kg Fe-met). The results showed that Fe and Cu content in the breast muscle increased by dietary supplementation of organic and inorganic iron from II to V groups. Dietary groups of II, IV, and V increased L* value and b* value of breast meat. Additionally, redness of breast meat enhanced linearly and quadratically by dietary supplementation of 80 mg/kg Fe as FeSO4 . In addition, dietary supplementation Fe from II to V groups led to a significant increase in pHu at 24-h postmortem while it was negatively correlated with L* value of breast muscle. This study demonstrates that replacing FeSO4 with Fe-Met could improve breast meat yield of broilers. Although 80 mg of Fe-Met improved the iron content of meat, it showed detrimental effects on the lipid oxidation of breast meat.

Broiler responses to ferrous sulfate at different time periods: a comprehensive research on qualitative parameters of breast meat.

The objective of present study was to study the effects of dietary ferrous sulfate (FeSO4) and time periods on Fe deposition, nutrients composition, color indices, water-holding capacity and oxidative stability of breast meat in broilers. This experiment was performed by 450 broilers in a 3 × 3 factorial design with 3 levels of supplemental Fe (0, 40 and 80 mg/kg) and 3 time periods (total, T: from 1 to 42 days; grower and finisher, GF: from 11 to 42 days and finisher, F: from 25 to 42 days). The results showed that increasing the iron supplementation to 80 mg/kg increased the breast meat crude Protein. Adding 80 mg/kg of FeSO4 during the T period increased the iron content of breast meat compared to other dietary periods. Supplementation of 40 mg/kg FeSO4 during T and GF periods increased quadratically (P < 0.001) the L* value of meat compared to F period. Meat redness significantly increased by adding of 80 mg/kg iron into broiler diet. At 1 and 7 day postmortem, malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) of meat were measured for determination of lipid oxidation stability of tissue. Feeding 40 mg/kg Fe caused a higher MDA value at both time points compared to 0 mg/kg Fe (linear response). However, increasing the Fe level to 80 mg/kg decreased MDA of meat (quadratic response). Adding 40 mg/kg Fe increased T-AOC of meat at both time points. It was concluded that dietary supplementation of 80 mg/kg Fe during T period resulted in the higher Fe deposition and better oxidative stability of breast meat in broilers.