Stability of abdominal fat and meat of broilers: The interrelationship between the effects of dietary fat and vitamin E supplements1

Abstract

1. The effect of graded increments of α‐tocopheryl acetate (ATA), in diets containing various fat supplements at different concentrations, on tissue a‐tocopherol (TOC) content and on the stability of abdominal fat and meat of broilers was determined. 2. Plasma, liver and adipose tissue TOC content increased markedly as dietary ATA concentrations rose. The type or amount of fat supplementation had no consistent effect on tissue TOC content; however, these factors affected the degree of saturation of carcass fat. 3. Stability of abdominal fat and meat was little affected by the degree of saturation of carcass fat in the absence of dietary ATA. The latter significantly improved stability of these tissues in broilers having relatively saturated carcass fat, whereas its beneficial effect was rather limited as the degree of unsaturation of carcass fat increased.