The problem of fat rancidity in frozen stored poultry is of economic importance. Several attempts have been made to retard rancidity of poultry fat by including certain natural antioxidants or other metabolites in the ration. However, the results of such experiments have not been consistent. Criddle and Morgan ( I ) , Kummerow, Vail, Conrad, and Avery (7), and Kummerow, Hite, and Kloxin (8) found that peroxide numbers of the fat from frozen stored turkeys were lowered by the addition of tocopherol to the ration, but tocopherol had little effect on the induction period of the fat or on the organoleptic quality of the meat. Also, (5) reported that choline and ethanolamine increased the induction period, but had no significant effect on the peroxide numbers of turkey fat or on organoleptic qualities of the meat. Moreover, Klose, Kummerow, Goertz, and Hanson (6) stated that the incorporation of ethanolamine, tocopherol, pyrodoxin, calcium pantothenate, mono-ethanol-ammonium gallate, and betaine in the diets of Broad-Breasted Bronze turkeys for 20 days prior to slaughter did not improve the frozen storage stability of the fat. Likewise, Schreiber, VaiI, Conrad, and Payne (10)were unable to produce a definite improvement in the stability of poultry fat by the addition of ascorbic acid to the ration.Mecchi, Pool, and Klose (9) found that when chickens. and turkeys were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0.10% alphatocopheryl acetate, the stability of the depot fat was increased two-to three-fold for the chicken fat, and four-to six-fold for the turkey fat when compared with fat from control birds.
