EFFECTS OF NATURAL ANTIOXIDANT EXTRACT SUPPLEMENTATION ON THE GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND MEAT QUALITY OF BROILER CHICKENS

Abstract

The study examined the effect of dietary antioxidant supplementation on the performance and meat quality of broiler chickens. Namely, 300-day-old Abhor acre broiler chicks were fed a starter diet from 1 to 4 weeks and a finisher diet for the last 4 weeks. Birds were randomly assigned to treatments based on antioxidant supplementation in drinking water at 0.02% butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), ordinary water (OW), 0.02% sweet orange peel extracts (SOPE), 0.02% shaddock peel extracts (SHPE) and 0.02% lemon peel extracts (LMPE) per litre of water in a completely randomized design experiment. Feed intake and body weight gain were recorded on a weekly basis. Three birds were selected in each treatment and slaughtered for meat quality determination. BHA and LMPE treatments had the best weight gain and feed conversion efficiency at a significant level (p<0.05). There were significant differences (p<0.05) in the shear force (force peak and yield) on the dietary antioxidants fed to the birds. Sensory parameters (taste, aroma and overall acceptability) show significant differences (p<0.05) amongst the treatments. However, there were no significant differences (p>0.05) in appearance and texture perception amongst treatments. Finally, significant differences (p<0.05) in the lightness (L*) and redness (a*) of the meat samples were observed amongst the treatments. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in the yellowness (b*) amongst the treatments. It can be concluded that broiler birds fed SOPE, SHPE and LMPE treatments performed better and enhanced the meat quality of the birds when compared to BHA and OW treatments.