Effect of dietary grape seed oil supplementation on growth performance, biochemical antioxidant status, meat quality parameters, and nutritional value in broiler chickens

Abstract

Broilers are one of the most widely used white meat products in the world, so the quality of their meat is important to raise their nutritional value, as vegetable oils are usually used in feeding broilers because of the great energy they provide. The present study aimed to assess the effects of dietary grape seed oil supplementation on the growth performance, antioxidant status, meat quality, and nutritional value of broiler chickens. Two hundred one-day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments with five replicates of 10 birds each. The treatments consisted of a basal diet supplemented with 0%, 1.5%, 3.0%, and 4.5% grape seed oil (GSO) for the entire experimental period of 42 days during which growth performance parameters were measured weekly until slaughtering on day 42 post-hatch. Blood and meat samples were collected on days 21 and 42 for biochemical and quality analyses, respectively. Results indicated that supplementation with GSO at the level of 3.0% was associated with significantly improved body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (P < 0.05). In addition, GSO supplementation was associated with enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD and GPx), it reached the highest possible when adding 3% (158.9 and 112.5 U/mL), respectively, and reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in serum and meat from treated birds relative to controls, reached (2.15 nmol/mL) when 3% of the oil was added. Meat quality parameters (pH, colour stability, and water-holding capacity) were significantly improved in the treatment groups compared to controls. Furthermore, supplementation with GSO was associated with an improved amino acid profile of breast meat, particularly lysine and methionine content, in treated birds relative to controls.