Effect of Dietary Enrichment with Flaxseed, Vitamin E and Selenium, and of Market Class on the Broiler Breast Meat-Part 2: Technological and Sensorial Traits.

The influence of diet enrichment with flaxseed, selenium and vitamin E, and market class on breast meat was investigated in terms of technological and sensorial quality of breast meat. A randomized complete block design with an experimental unit of n = 6000 broilers receiving a standard or enriched diet, and slaughtered at 37 (light class), 47 (medium class), or 57 (heavy class) days of life, was developed. Then, enriched and standard breast muscles from every market class were studied for their technological and sensorial traits­both at 24 h post-mortem and after one month of frozen storage­by a statistical multiple linear model. Redness and yellowness of muscles significantly (p < 0.05) increased and decreased with increasing market age. Moreover, the yellowness significantly (p < 0.05) raised after frozen storage. However, obtained data were always indicative of a normal meat color. The water holding capacity improved following fed enrichment and significantly (p < 0.05) worsened after frozen storage. For the sensory analysis, juiciness and chewing rest of meat resulted significantly (p < 0.05) improved with increasing slaughtering age and diet enrichment, as well as their mutual interaction, while they deteriorated after frozen storage. Overall, fresh and enriched muscles from heavy broilers had the best technological and sensorial traits, thus, confirming that market size and diet should be highly considered to obtain breast meat with greater consumer acceptance.

Physicochemical, Nutritional, Microbiological, and Sensory Qualities of Chicken Burgers Reformulated with Mediterranean Plant Ingredients and Health-Promoting Compounds.

The quality of chicken burgers reformulated by the partial replacement of meat by Mediterranean plant ingredients and enriched with peculiar amounts of n-3 PUFAs, Mg, Fe, Se, and folic acid, was evaluated in comparison to conventional chicken burgers. Specifically, two types of burger were developed, namely the "Sicilian burger"-based on cherry tomato and rosemary-and the "Mediterranean burger"-with basil leaves and thyme essential oil-every recipe being differentially functionalized according to the nutritional requirements of consumers, such as children, pregnant women and elderly. Mediterranean ingredients were responsible for different pH, color, and cooking loss between conventional and functional burgers. Except for n-3 PUFAs resulting poorly fortified, the functionalization with Mg, Fe, Se, and vitamin B9 was successful in all products. Considering the target consumer categories, the daily consumption of the functional burger may assure an intake of Mg, Fe, and Se equal, respectively, to 37.31-59.90%, 17.76-46.81%, and 27.20-50.05%, and a cover of vitamin B9 of 31.98-48.31% of the relative population reference intakes. Fortified products kept a good microbiological quality during 5 days of refrigerated storage, and, according to the sensorial descriptive analysis and the hedonic test, they showed a higher acceptability than conventional burgers.

Effects of spirulina diet on the oogenesis of zebrafish: morphological analysis and immunohistochemical determination of the vitellogenin.

Morphological analysis and immunohistochemical determination of vitellogenin (Vtg) were carried out in zebrafish ovaries (Danio rerio). The goal was to determine the nutraceutical effect of Spirulina feed on ovarian maturation stages of adult zebrafish. After 30 d, in the stages of advanced maturation a prevalence of oocytes was found in the experimental group. Immunohistochemical investigations revealed a significant increase in Vtg, precursor of vitelline (Vn) in egg yolk, whose expression increased in the liver in relation to the stages of maturation. In the zebrafish liver, the expression of Vtg was extremely low before vitellogenesis, and then increased and it was maintained at a high level until the final stage of ovarian maturation. The results showed that food additives such as Spirulina can improve fertility in laboratory farmed fish. The data obtained from this study may be a contribution to wider research aimed at improving reproduction in all vertebrates, including humans.