Effects of Dietary Supplementation with <span style="font-variant: small-caps">dl</span>-Methionine and <span style="font-variant: small-caps">dl</span>-Methionyl-<span style="font-variant: small-caps">dl</span>-Methionine in Breeding Pigeons on the Carcass Characteristics, Meat Quality and Antioxidant Activity of Squabs
Shi-Guang Jiang,
Neng-Xia Pan,
Meng-Jie Chen,
Xiu-Qi Wang,
Hui-Chao Yan,
Chun-Qi Gao
Affiliations
Shi-Guang Jiang
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control/Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China
Neng-Xia Pan
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control/Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China
Meng-Jie Chen
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control/Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China
Xiu-Qi Wang
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control/Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China
Hui-Chao Yan
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control/Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China
Chun-Qi Gao
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control/Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China
This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with dl-methionine (dl-Met) and dl-methionyl-dl-methionine (dl-Met-Met) in breeding pigeons on the carcass characteristics, meat quality and antioxidant activity of squabs. A total of 324 pairs of breeding pigeons were selected and allotted to 9 treatments in a completely randomized design, and the birds were fed dietary treatments for 45 d, including a Met-deficient basal diet (BD, crude protein = 15%, Met = 0.25%) and BD + 0.15%, 0.30%, 0.45%, or 0.60% dl-Met or dl-Met-Met diets. Compared with the diet fed to the BD group, dietary dl-Met or dl-Met-Met supplementation effectively increased the carcass yield, semieviscerated yield, eviscerated yield, breast muscle yield, thigh muscle yield, a* value, catalase activity, total superoxide dismutase activity and glutathione peroxidase activity, but decreased the L* value, malonaldehyde concentration, drip loss and cooking loss of squabs (p < 0.05). The relative bioavailability values of dl-Met-Met relative to those of dl-Met were 467% and 376% based on carcass yield and breast muscle yield, respectively (p < 0.001). Moreover, dl-Met-Met was more effective than dl-Met in decreasing the drip loss and improving the antioxidant activity of the breast and thigh muscles of squabs (p < 0.05). As a source of Met, dl-Met-Met, rather than dl-Met, was more beneficial to squabs.
