author(s)
N Arulnathan, R Karunakaran, V Balakrishnan, M Chellapandian and ST Selvam

abstract
A feeding trial was conducted in Japanese quail broiler birds for a period of five weeks to study the effect of various inclusion levels of feed ingredients rich in omega-3 fatty acids to meatquality characteristics. 360 numbers of day old Japanese quail chicks were selected and distributed randomly into six treatment groups (T1-PO 4%; T2 LO 4%:T3 LO 3% + SO 1%; T4 LO 2% +SO 2%; T5 LO 1% + SO 3%; T6 SO 4%). Six replicates of ten birds (6 x 10 = 60) were maintained in each treatment. The Japanese quail broiler rations were iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous. The source of omega-3 rich oils and their combinations are the key variable in these rations. The birds were slaughtered by Halal method at the end of the experiment on 35^th day. There is no significant difference (P>0.05) in the dry matter, crude protein, ether extract and total ash content in the Japanese quail meat fed with different sources oil and its combination. No significant (P>0.05) difference was observed on pH, shear force value, water holding capacity and colour of breast meat of Japanese quail fed with different oil sources rich in omega-3 fatty acids. The sensory evaluation of the breast meat of Japanese quail fed with different oil sources rich in omega-3 fatty acids had significant (P<0.05) difference among the treatments. Hence, from this study T3 (LO-3% and SO-1%) was recommended based on the sensory evaluation studies to produce omega-3 enriched Japanese quail meat.