Comparative effect of selenium source on the performance, meat quality and meat oxidative stability of broiler chickens

The present investigation was carried out to study the comparative effect of selenium source on the performance, meat quality and meat oxidative stability of broiler chickens for a period of 6 weeks. The total 375 day old straight run broiler chicks were procured and divided into five different dietary treatments viz. A, B, C, D and E, respectively, with three replicates in each treatment. Treatment group A was control (without selenium), B fed with organic selenium @ 0.3ppm , C fed with inorganic selenium @ 0.3ppm , group D fed with organic selenium @ 0.6ppm and group E fed with inorganic selenium @ 0.6ppm through feed. The sources of organic and inorganic selenium were selenomethionine and sodium selenite, respectively. The growth performances (body weight, feed consumption, FCR, mortality) were recorded on weekly basis. The carcass traits (edible carcass yield, thigh yield, drum stick, giblet, breast yield, abdominal fat, neck yield, wing yield) were measured after slaughtering the bird on 42nd day. The thigh and breast meat were collected in LDPL bags and kept -180C till the analysis is carried out for the PH, purge loss and TBA values at 0,7,14,21 and 28 day of slaughter. Whatever the origin of selenium supplementation, no significant effect on body weight gain, feed intake and FCR was observed in various weeks. The highest mortality was observed in organic selenium supplementary group. The carcass traits were also unaffected at the end of experiment. Dietary level of organic and inorganic selenium did not affect the PH of breast meat at 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28th day of storage of meat. However, slightly higher PH values were notice for treatment group without selenium supplementation. Purge loss was numerically higher in control group but did not differ significantly for organic and inorganic selenium supplemented groups at 7th and 14th day of storage. The decreased TBA values of breast meat at 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28th day of storage for dietary supplementation with organic and inorganic selenium were observed. In conclusion, the supplementation of broiler diets with organic and inorganic selenium reduced drip loss, TBA values during storage thereby improved quality of meat.