EFFECT OF VITAMIN-A ON THE OXIDATIVE STABILITY OF BROILER MEAT DURINGSTORAGE - LACK OF INTERACTIONS WITH VITAMIN-E

1. An experiment was carried out with male broiler chicks to evaluate the combined effect of two concentrations of vitamin A (1.032 and 10.3 2 mg retinyl acetate/kg diet) and two concentrations of vitamin E (0 a nd 150 mg alpha-tocopheryl acetate/kg diet) on the oxidative stability of the drumstick meat of broiler chickens. The experimental diets wer e fed from 1 to 42 d of age. The oxidative stability, evaluated by thi obarbituric acid reactive substances (TEARS) values, was determined af ter 125 d of storage at -18 degrees C. 2. TEARS values were very low a nd not significantly affected by dietary vitamins A and E or their com binations. However, the TEARS values in the meat of birds fed on the v itamin E-free diets, but not on the vitamin E-supplemented diets, were markedly increased after using an accelerated test of oxidation of th e meat lipids by incubation. This resulted in a significant (P<0.001) difference from vitamin E supplementation. Vitamin A, alone or in comb ination with vitamin E, did not affect TEARS values found after incuba tion. 3. It is concluded that vitamin A at the concentrations used had no effect on the oxidative stability of the meat, in contrast to the protective effect of vitamin E, and that there is no interaction betwe en the effect of these two vitamins on meat stability.