OXIDATIVE STABILITY AND ALPHA-TOCOPHEROL RETENTION IN TURKEY BURGERS DURING REFRIGERATED AND FROZEN STORAGE AS INFLUENCED BY DIETARY ALPHA-TOCOPHERYL ACETATE

1. The effect of vitamin E (alpha-tocopheryl acetate) in turkey diets on the oxidative stability of raw and cooked turkey burgers and on the retention of alpha-tocopherol during refrigerated (4 degrees C) or fr ozen (-20 degrees C) storage was investigated. One hundred and two, on e-day-old T-8(s) turkey poults were divided at random into 3 groups of 34 animals each and fed on either a basal diet (normal commercial tur key diet) supplemented with 20 mg alpha-tocopheryl acetate/kg (control ) or fed an alpha-tocopherol supplemented diet containing 300 (E300) o r 600 (E600) mg alpha-tocopheryl acetate/kg for 21 weeks. 2. Dietary s upplementation with alpha-tocopheryl acetate significantly reduced TBA RS numbers in both raw and cooked burgers during refrigerated and froz en storage. 3. The mean values of alpha-tocopherol in raw and cooked b urgers stored at 4 degrees C did not change during storage. 4. In the case of both raw and cooked samples stored at -20 degrees C, the alpha -tocopherol values decreased from 5.67 to 3.54 and from 3.56 to 2.30 m u g/g in the raw burgers from turkeys from the E600 and E300 treatment s, respectively, after 4 months storage. The values decreased from 5.6 0 to 2.88 and from 3.29 to 1.85 mu g/g in cooked burgers from turkeys from the E600 and E300 treatments, respectively, after 5 months storag e.