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The effect of vitamin A deficiency on some postmortem parameters of avian muscle

University of British Columbia

The effect of the dietary status of vitamin A on carbohydrate metabolism, postmortem isometric tension development and shear resistance of Pectoral is major muscle was studied. Depletion studies, conducted over a five week period, indicated a definite influence of vitamin A deficiency on muscle carbohydrate metabolism. Mild hypovitaminosis A induced an increase in glycogen deposition whereas a severe deficiency led to a reduction of these elevated stores. Vitamin A deficiency did not affect the abi I ity of P. major strips to develop isometric tension postmortem. P. major strips sampled from deficient cockerels generally required longer to reach maximum tension and, in the later stages, developed significantly greater maximum tension than those of controls. The extended times to maximum tension reflected an increased muscle glycogen content. A significant increase in shear value similarly corresponded to the increased myofibrillar contraction noted in the later deficiency stages. Cockerels which had previously received a completely vitamin A deficient ration for five weeks were utilized for the two week repletion study. Though there was a distinct delay in response to the feeding of a vitamin A adequate ration, the muscle glycogen content, isometric tension parameters and shear values of repleted birds were similar to those of controls within the two week period.

Text

2010-03-01

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/21236

Food Science

University of British Columbia

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