The Relation of In Vivo and In Vitro Tocopherol Supplementation to Stability of Fowl Fat

Abstract The quality of rendered leaf fat from mature breeder fowl which contained varying amounts of tocopherol due to in vivo dietary supplementation or due to direct in vitro addition was investigated. Treatments were dietary supplementation with d-alpha-tocopheryl acetate at levels of 0, 0.025, 0.050, 0.075 and 0.100% (0 to 1360 I.U./kg. feed) for 3 weeks pre-slaughter and in vitro d-alpha-tocopherol addition of 0, 10.74, 21.48, 32.22 and 42.96 μg./ml. of rendered fat (0 to 6.4 I.U./100 ml. fat) of fowl fed 3 weeks on a diet containing no tocopherol supplementation. Parameters used to estimate fat quality included AOM stability time, free fatty acid content, initial peroxide value, and moisture and volatile matter content. Tocopherol content of the rendered fat was also determined. Fat tocopherol content was found to be significantly related to AOM stability time (r = 0.93, P