Effects of Dietary Sources Containing ω-3 Fatty Acids on the Fatty Acid Composition of Meats in Korean Native Chickens

Estimations were made of oxidative susceptibility and fatty acid composition of edible meats of native chickens fed various dietary sources containing omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). A total of 240 Korean native chickens were divided into 4 groups, placed into 3 replicates per group, and were fed a commercial diet (Control) or one of the three experimental diets containing 10% perilla meal (PM group), 10% perilla meal-5% full fat flaxseed (PM+FS group), or 10% perilla meal-5% full fat flaxseed-1% fish oil (PM+FS+FO group) for 20 days. Final body weight, weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion rate among the groups were not significantly different. Dietary treatments did not affect the relative weights of liver, abdominal fat, and breast muscle. The leg weight was increased from the feeding of omega-3 PUFA sources. The TBA reactive substance in the edible meat was not different with the dietary treatments. The total omega-3 PUFA in chickens that were fed diets containing omega-3 PUFA sources increased compared to that of the control. The level of longer chain omega-3 PUFAs, such as C20:5 omega 3 and C22:6 omega 3 in the PM+FS+FO group, was much higher than that of the others. The addition of local ingredients, such as perilla meal with conventional sources, could be used to obtain value-enhanced meat by enhancing omega-3 PUFA.