Abstract:

This study was conducted to determine the effect of diets containing different levels of thyme essential oil (Thymus vulgaris) on antioxidative metabolism in breast meat of quails. A total of 200 sixteen-day-old Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were used in this study. Animals were divided into four groups with five replicates of 10 animals each; control group was fed only basal diet but 150, 300 and 450 mg/kg thyme essential oil were added to diet of groups thyme 1, thyme 2 and thyme 3, respectively. At the end of the study, ten quails were selected randomly from every group and decapitated. The analyses were made on their breast meat. In thyme groups, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity was significantly higher than the control group (P<0.05). However, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was significantly higher only in group thyme 2 (P<0.05). It was determined that the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) decreased in the thyme 1 and thyme 3 groups (P<0.05). Among all groups, catalase (CAT) activity did not differ. In conclusion, thyme essential oil had a significant effect on the antioxidant metabolism in breast meat.

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