Effect of feeding high oleic acid corn on turkey carcass quality

High oleic acid corn (HOAC) has been genetically selected for a greater content of oleic acid (OA) that, if used in animal feeds, could improve meat quality. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of feeding dietary HOAC to turkeys on the carcass fatty acid profile, sensory quality of fresh turkey meat and the lipid stability of meat after storage or cooking. In addition, the effect of dietary treatment on carcass composition, meat yield and production performance were determined.; Male turkeys (N = 450) were randomly assigned to 45 pens at one day of age and fed one of five different dietary treatments varying in source and amount of corn (HOAC vs. control) to 20 wks of age. Performance data were measured every 4 weeks. At 20 weeks of age, turkeys were processed and meat yield determined. Samples of breast and thigh meat were used in sensory and storage tests. For sensory evaluation, cooked breast and thigh samples were scored for juiciness, toughness, texture, flavor and overall liking by an untrained test panel. Lipid oxidation was assessed by determination of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. Proximate analyses were conducted according to Association of Official Analytical Chemists methods. Fatty acid composition of carcass and diets were determined by in situ transesterification followed by gas chromatography.; The experimental design was a completely randomized block design (9 replicate pens/treatment). Analysis of variance was conducted and the Least Significant Difference was used to determine differences among treatment means.; The use of HOAC in place of conventional corn in isocaloric diets produced equivalent turkey performance. Use of HOAC resulted in decreased development of rancidity of turkey meat. Juiciness and texture liking were significantly increased for breast meat when HOAC inclusion increased in the diet. Concentration of OA increased while that of linoleic acid decreased in meat and fat samples from turkeys fed diets containing HOAC compared to control corn reflecting the greater OA contribution from HOAC. Inclusion of HOAC in turkey diets had several positive benefits for meat quality, primarily associated with increased OA content of the resulting meat.