Effect of different levels of Satureja khuzistanica essential oils in usual and microcapsulated forms in diets on performance, carcass characteristics and meat oxidative stability in broiler chickens

To evaluation the effects of adding different levels of Satureja khuzistanica essential oils in usual and microcapsulated forms to diets on performance, carcass components and meat oxidative stability in broiler chickens, an experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design. The results of this study showed that the use of diets containing different levels of Satureja essential oils in usual and microcapsulated forms had no significantly different than the control group (no additive) on feed intake, feed convertion ratio, carcass characteristics, percentage of dry matter crude protein and fat and water holding capacity of the breast tissue. Also, due to different holding times of breast tissue in the freezer, the production of malondialdehyde in this tissue was significantly influenced by experimental treatments at 24 hours after freezing. Also, the results of this experiment showed that the use of diets containing Satureja essential oils in usual and microcapsulated forms, statistically caused a significant difference on the amount of free N breast tissue at 0 and 48 hours after freezing. According to the results of this study, adding different levels of Satureja essential oils in usual and microcapsulated forms to diets did not improve the performance and carcass characteristics, but it prevented an increase in the oxidation of the breast muscle in broiler chickens.