Meat quality, colour stability, lipid and protein oxidation of broilers on diets supplemented with Piper sarmentosum leaves

A feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of Piper sarmentosum leaves (PSL) on meat quality of broilers. The 144 commercial broiler chicks, one day old, were randomly assigned to 5 groups with three replicate cages. The five treatments were: 1) basal feed (8 chicks/cage), 2) basal feed (10 chicks/cage), 3) basal feed supplemented with 1% of PSL (10 chicks/cage), 4) basal feed supplemented with 2% of PSL (10 chicks/cage), and 5) basal feed supplemented with 3% of PSL (10 chicks/cage). The duration of dietary treatments was 42 days. The results showed that the group supplemented with 3% PSL had higher redness, yellowness, and cooking loss than the control group with 10 chickens/cage (P < 0.05). It was also observed that the 3% PSL treatment gave significantly lower lightness than the 0% and 1% PSL treatments with 10 chickens/cage (P < 0.05). Overall, the study indicated that PSL might improve chicken meat colour and protect against protein oxidation, but it has no potential in protecting against lipid oxidation in broiler filet.