Effect of dietary oregano essential oil supplementation for an extensive fattening period on growth performance and breast meat quality of female medium-growing broilers

Symeon, G. K., Zintilas, C., Ayoutanti, A., Bizelis, J. A. and Deligeorgis, S. G. 2009. Effect of dietary oregano essential oil supplementation for an extensive fattening period on growth performance and breast meat quality of female medium-growing broilers. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 89: 331-334. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary oregano essential oil supplementation on growth and breast meat quality of female broilers. Experimental groups consisted of controls (M, n = 30) and two levels of supplemented diet (R1 = 100 mg kg(-1), n = 30 and R2 = 250 mg kg(-1), n = 30). Live weight and feed conversion ratio were not affected. There was a partial effect on the R2 group color, shear values and cooking loss at 9, 12 and 15 wk of age. A consumer panel failed to detect differences on the acceptance of samples. Different inclusion levels should be investigated, and interactions with rearing conditions and/or diets cannot be ignored.