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Scientists working to enrich poultry meat with Omega-3
Prof. Steven Leeson from the University of Guelph Animal and Poultry
Science, Ontario, Canada is leading an effort to enrich poultry meat with
Omega-3 fatty acids. Previously he has been successful doing so with
eggs.
Leeson has identified various poultry feed combinations
that can be fed to chickens to add heart-healthy fatty acids to the animals'
meat, without affecting the taste of the meat.
The research is
sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural
Affairs.
He's found the poultry became sufficiently enriched with
Omega-3 fatty acids after 10 to 14 days on a flax seed diet. At this stage, the
nutrients build up in the body fat and, once present, are constantly reused in
cycles for growth and energy.
Lesson is now balancing the amount of
Omega-3 and DHA fatty acids in the enriched meat to make sure its enhanced
nutritive quality doesn't interfere with taste.
DHA is known to
improve human visual and learning abilities, boost immune function and relieve
symptoms of some psychological disorders and inflammatory
diseases.
Leeson says adding fish oil to poultry feed gives humans
who consume the poultry an alternative DHA source.
He predicts a
market for nutrient-enhanced poultry meat in sales of whole chickens. Unlike
most meat cuts that are too lean to store enough fatty acids, whole chickens contain
much of the original fat content, which is where DHA and
other Omega-3 fatty acids are stored.
Editor WorldPoultry
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