Descriptive sensory analysis of meat from broilers fed diets containing vitamin E or beta-carotene as antioxidants and different supplemental fats.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary fat (lard, sunflower oil, and olive oil) and supplementation of alpha-tocopheryl acetate or beta-carotene on descriptive sensory changes in broiler leg meat as evaluated by a trained panel. Twenty-five descriptors were analyzed from chicken leg meat: 11 in raw meat and 14 in cooked meat. Rancid values were very low, possibly because samples were consumed between 1 and 4 d after slaughter, which maybe insufficient time for oxidative processes to decrease meat sensory quality. However, samples supplemented with vitamin E showed lower rancidity levels, although the differences were only significant when compared to a beta-carotene diet, whereas the control treatment showed intermediate scores. Beta-carotene modified texture scores compared to the control diet, although the differences were only significant in initial juiciness and teeth adhesion compared to the vitamin E treatment and in tenderness compared to the control. In addition, juiciness and tenderness were positively correlated according to the principal component analysis of sensory attributes. The effect of dietary fat on analyzed attributes was lower than the effect of dietary antioxidant. The most important effect of fat type was on hardness of internal fat. Chickens whose diets were supplemented with lard had higher scored values than chickens whose diets were supplemented with vegetable oils. However, type of fat added to diet did not significantly influence rancidity values. These results indicate that an increase in the degree of unsaturation of fat in meat does not cause an increase in the oxidation levels detected by the panel under the conditions of short-term storage.