Chapter 11 Fatty acid composition of total lipids of liver and thigh muscle broiler chickens under the influence of separate and complex action of vitamins E and C

Abstract

The section presents the research results devoted to studying the effect of separate and complex inclusion of vitamins E and C in the diet of broiler chickens on the fatty acid composition of total lipids of their liver and skeletal muscles at 41 days of age. Four groups of broiler chickens were formed for the experiment. The control group received standard compound feed (SC); the first experimental group of chickens received vitamin E in addition to SC; the second experimental group received vitamin C; the third experimental group received vitamins E and C simultaneously. The results of the study proved significant differences in the fatty acid composition of total lipids of the liver and thigh muscles of 41-day-old broilers under the influence of separate and complex effects of vitamins E and C. The ad- dition of vitamin E caused an increase in the content of individual saturated fatty acids and a moderate increase in the ω-3 PUFA level in liver tissues. The addition of vitamin C to the chicken diet contributed to an even more pronounced increase in saturated fatty acids, but at the same time a significant decrease in the total PUFA level, especially ω-6. Instead, the combined effect of vitamins E and C led to the most pronounced changes – a significant increase in the total PUFA level (44.06%), a sharp increase in ω-6 (up to 38.3%) and at the same time a decrease in ω-3, which was accompanied by an increase in the ω-6/ω-3 ratio (up to 6.65). In the muscle tissues of chickens receiving vitamin E (groups I and III), a faster increase in the ω-3 PUFA content compared to ω-6 was found against the background of a de- crease in the SFA content and MUFA, which contributed both to providing these tissues with a set of necessary PUFA and to a significant increase in the biologi- cal value of meat due to optimization of the ω-6/ω-3 PUFA ratio. In chickens to which vitamin C was added, an increase in the antioxidant activity of the tissues was accompanied by an increase in the total SFA content, and the ω-6/ω-3 PUFA ratio remained at the level of the control group (35.84).