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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Toxicology & Mycotoxin Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #390380
Research Project: Eliminating Fusarium Mycotoxin Contamination of Corn by Targeting Fungal Mechanisms and Adaptations Conferring Fitness in Corn and Toxicology and Toxinology Studies of Mycotoxins

Location: Toxicology & Mycotoxin Research

Title: Effects of varying levels of dietary DL-methionine supplementation on breast meat quality of male and female broilers

Author
item Pokoo-Aikins, Anthony
item TIMMONS, JENNIFER - University Of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES)
item MIN, BYUNGROK - University Of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES)
item LEE, WILLIAM - Maple Leaf Farms
item MWANGI, SAMUEL - Alcorn State University
item McDonough, Callie
item CHEN, CHONGXIAO - North Carolina A&t State University

Submitted to: Poultry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/16/2022
Publication Date: 3/17/2022
Citation: Pokoo-Aikins, A., Timmons, J.R., Min, B.R., Lee, W.R., Mwangi, S.N., Mcdonough, C.M., Chen, C. 2022. Effects of varying levels of dietary DL-methionine supplementation on breast meat quality of male and female broilers. Poultry. 1(1):40-53. https://doi.org/10.3390/poultry1010005.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/poultry1010005

Interpretive Summary: DL-methionine (MET) is an amino acid necessary for growth in poultry. Currently the United States restricts the amount of MET that can be added to organic poultry diets. MET can play a role in meat quality and shelf life. This study examined how adding different levels of MET to poultry diets effects meat quality. Addition of MET to poultry diets had a sex-dependent effect on color, antioxidant levels, toughness, and firmness. This study shows us how different levels of methionine, including 0 g, can impact meat quality. The results of this study suggest adding at least 1 g of MET/kg to poultry diets can improve shelf life, muscle protein functionality, and breast meat cooking yield.

Technical Abstract: This study evaluated the effects of feeding varying levels of dietary DL-methionine (MET) supplementation on breast meat (BM) quality of broilers of different sex. The 1-day-old, sexed chicks (Ross 708, 1552) were randomly allocated into four groups (each with 4 replicates) and were raised with diets supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1, or 2 g MET/kg of feed to a common weight (2.72 kg). Color, pH, drip loss (DL), water-holding capacity, moisture uptake, cooking yield (CY), texture, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and lipid oxidation (LO) were determined using BM samples harvested 24 h postmortem. The male BM had higher redness, TAC, firmness, and toughness but lower yellowness (p < 0.01) than the female BM. In both sexes, birds fed 0.5 g/kg MET had lower DL (p < 0.01) than those fed 1 and 2 g/kg MET. For storage up to 3 days, MET suppressed LO in cooked BM (p < 0.01) and suppression increased as MET increased. CY for 1 and 2 g/kg MET were higher (p < 0.01; 79.04 and 78.60%, respectively) than CY for 0 and 0.5 g/kg MET (66.18 and 68.03%, respectively). These results suggest that MET supplementation at 1 g/kg or higher for broilers can improve oxidative stability, muscle functionality, and breast meat CY.