Effect of Growth Enhancers on Quality of Chicken Meat During Cold Storage

This study was conducted to assess the effect of some growth enhancers as dietary onion & garlic (Allium sativum) and vitamin E supplementation with water on the meat quality parameters of broiler chicken. A total of 150 chicks were divided into 3 groups, 50 birds per treatment. The first group was fed control diet, the second group fed control diet supplemented with onion 2% and garlic 2% and the third group fed on control diet with vitamin E mixed with water. Birds were slaughtered at the end of the trial to evaluate pH , moisture content, cooking loss, shear force, instrumental color and fatty acids composition of refrigerated (5±1oC for 6 days) and frozen (3 and 6 months) samples. There was a significant decrease in the mean pH, shear force, a*and b*values and cooking loss in samples from chicken dietary supplemented with onion & garlic, and also in chicken (supplemented) with vitamin E mixed with water compared with the control. The mean moisture contents of chicken samples were not significantly influenced by the used growth enhancers. There was a numeric decrease in total saturated fatty acids (TSF %) and an increase in total unsaturated fatty acids (TUS %) in chicken samples (supplemented) with vitamin E mixed with water than contro l and which supplemented with onion & garlic. Palmitic was the predominant saturated fatty acid, while oleic was the predominant unsaturated fatty acid. It could be concluded that the supplementation of onion & garlic and vitamin E improved chicken meat quality during refrigerated and frozen storage.