Production of Omega-3-Enriched Meat through Feeding Broilers with Ultrasonicated Flaxseed Oil Nanoemulsions: Performance, Serum Composition, Physicochemical Properties and Oxidative Stability

Abstract

This study aimed to produce omega-3-emriched broiler meat by using ultrasonicated flaxseed oil nanoemulsions coated with whey protein-sodium alginate. Three hundred 1-d-old (Ross, 308) male broiler chicks were allocated randomly to 5 experimental treatments with 4 replicate pens. Experimental treatments included basal diet (BD), basal diet plus flaxseed oil (BD+FO, 1 mL/kg/BW), basal diet plus ultrasonicated flaxseed oil nanoemulsions (BD+FON, 1 mL/kg/BW), basal diet plus flaxseed oil and vitamin E (BD+FO+E, 1 mL/kg/BW and 200 mg/kg diet vitamin E) and basal diet plus ultrasonicated flaxseed oil nanoemulsions and vitamin E (BD+FON+E, 1 mL/kg/BW and 200 mg/kg diet vitamin E). Results showed a better feed conversation ratio for birds received dietary treatments on d 42 of grower phase and overall (d 1 to 42), compared with those received BD (P≤0.05). Birds treated with dietary treatments (except BD+FO in the case of very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-c)) showed (P≤0.05) lower levels of serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and VLDL-c, and LDL-c/HDL-c ratio and greater amounts of serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) than the control. Meat quality parameters including oxidative stability, pH, water holding capacity, moisture and color (L*, a*, and b*) values were affected by dietary treatments, showing positive effect. Using ultrasonicated flaxseed oil nanoemulsions resulted in lower saturated fatty acids in breast meat, higher omega-3 fatty acids in both breast and thigh meat and a lower ratio of n-6 to n-3 in both breast and thigh meat (P<0.05). In general, current study showed that using ultrasound waves to produce flaxseed oil nanoemulsions has potential to improve performance, blood serum lipid profile, oxidative stability and omega-6/omega-3 ratio in broiler meat and consequently might reduce the risk of lifestyle related diseases in human.