Bay laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) in Japanese quails feeding. 2. Fatty acid content and oxidative stability of breast meat

In this study, the antioxidant effect of dietary supplementation with bay laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) leaves (LN) to a conventional diet on fatty acid content and oxidatif stability of breast meat was studied. For that purpose, a total number of 60 Japanese quails aged 56-d were fed diets supplemented with 0 (LN0), 2 (LN2) and 4 g (LN4) leaves/kg of feed, respectively. Quails were housed individually in cages during ten weeks. Fatty acid composition was determined for fresh breast meat. Malondialdehyde (MDA) values were determined in breast meat samples stored at +4°C (2, 5 and 8 d) and at -20°C (3 and 6 mo). Supplementation of LN had no effect on any fatty acid content of meat. However, addition of LN lowered (P<0.01) MDA content of the refrigerated meat samples only at 8 d. On the other hand, supplementation with LN had no significant effect on reducing the MDA values of meat samples during the other stored times. Besides, the amount of MDA increased (P<0.01) in all of the refrigerated and frozen meat samples with time. The results of this study demonstrated that supplementation of LN could reduce MDA content of refrigerated meat samples only at 8 d.