Effect of vitamin A on the oxidative stability of broiler meat during storage: lack of interactions with vitamin E

1. An experiment was carried out with male broiler chicks to evaluate the combined effect of two concentrations of vitamin A (1.032 and 10.32 mg retinyl acetate/kg diet) and two concentrations of vitamin E (0 and 150 mg alpha-tocopheryl acetate/kg diet) on the oxidative stability of the drumstick meat of broiler chickens. The experimental diets were fed from 1 to 42 d of age. The oxidative stability, evaluated by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TEARS) values, was determined after 125 d of storage at -18 degrees C. 2. TEARS values were very low and not significantly affected by dietary vitamins A and E or their combinations. However, the TEARS values in the meat of birds fed on the vitamin E-free diets, but not on the vitamin E-supplemented diets, were markedly increased after using an accelerated test of oxidation of the meat lipids by incubation. This resulted in a significant (P<0.001) difference from vitamin E supplementation. Vitamin A, alone or in combination with vitamin E, did not affect TEARS values found after incubation. 3. It is concluded that vitamin A at the concentrations used had no effect on the oxidative stability of the meat, in contrast to the protective effect of vitamin E, and that there is no interaction between the effect of these two vitamins on meat stability.