Potential application of Fe-methionine as a feed supplement on improving the quality of broilers breast meat

A total of 250 one-day-old Ross 308 male chicks were used to investigate the effects of Fe-methionine (Fe-met) and iron sulfate (FeSO₄.7H₂O) on performance, mineral concentration, meat quality, and oxidative stability of breast. The feeding experiment was performed with five dietary groups including group I (basal diet [BD] + 80 mg/kg FeSO₄), group II (BD + 60 mg/kg FeSO₄ + 20 mg/kg Fe-met), group III (BD + 40 mg/kg FeSO₄ + 40 mg/kg Fe-met), group IV (BD + 20 mg/kg FeSO₄ + 60 mg/kg Fe-met), and group V (BD + 80 mg/kg Fe-met). The results showed that Fe and Cu content in the breast muscle increased by dietary supplementation of organic and inorganic iron from II to V groups. Dietary groups of II, IV, and V increased L* value and b* value of breast meat. Additionally, redness of breast meat enhanced linearly and quadratically by dietary supplementation of 80 mg/kg Fe as FeSO₄. In addition, dietary supplementation Fe from II to V groups led to a significant increase in pHu at 24-h postmortem while it was negatively correlated with L* value of breast muscle. This study demonstrates that replacing FeSO₄ with Fe-Met could improve breast meat yield of broilers. Although 80 mg of Fe-Met improved the iron content of meat, it showed detrimental effects on the lipid oxidation of breast meat.