Potential application of Fe‐methionine as a feed supplement on improving the quality of broilers breast meat

A total of 250 one‐day‐old Ross 308 male chicks were used to investigate the effects of Fe‐methionine (Fe‐met) and iron sulfate (FeSO 4 .7H 2 O) on performance, mineral concentration, meat quality, and oxidative stability of breast. The feeding experiment was performed with five dietary groups including group I (basal diet [BD] + 80 mg/kg FeSO 4 ), group II (BD + 60 mg/kg FeSO 4 + 20 mg/kg Fe‐met), group III (BD + 40 mg/kg FeSO 4 + 40 mg/kg Fe‐met), group IV (BD + 20 mg/kg FeSO 4 + 60 mg/kg Fe‐met), and group V (BD + 80 mg/kg Fe‐met). The results showed that Fe and Cu content in the breast muscle increased by dietary supplementation of organic and inorganic iron from II to V groups. Dietary groups of II, IV, and V increased L* value and b* value of breast meat. Additionally, redness of breast meat enhanced linearly and quadratically by dietary supplementation of 80 mg/kg Fe as FeSO 4 . In addition, dietary supplementation Fe from II to V groups led to a significant increase in pHu at 24‐h postmortem while it was negatively correlated with L* value of breast muscle. This study demonstrates that replacing FeSO 4 with Fe‐Met could improve breast meat yield of broilers. Although 80 mg of Fe‐Met improved the iron content of meat, it showed detrimental effects on the lipid oxidation of breast meat.