Conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) are octadecadienoic acids (18:2) that have a conjugated double-bond system. Interest in these compounds has expanded since CLA were found to be associated with a number of physiological and pathological responses such as cancer, metastases, atherosclerosis, diabetes, immunity, and body fat/protein composition. The main sources of these conjugated fatty acids are dairy fats. Rumen bacteria convert polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially linoleic and linolenic acids, to CLA and numerous trans- containing mono- and diunsaturated fatty acids. It has been established that an additional route of CLA synthesis in ruminants and monogastric animals, including humans, occurs via Δ9 desaturation of the trans-18:1 isomers. To date, a total of 6 positional CLA isomers have been found in dairy fats, each occurring in 4 geometric forms (cis,trans; trans,cis; cis,cis; and trans,trans) for a total of 24. All of these CLA isomers can be resolved only by a combination of gas chromatography (GC), using 100 m highly polar capillary columns, and silver-ion liquid chromatography, using 3 of these 25 cm columns in series. Complete analysis of all the trans-18:1 isomers requires prior isolation of trans monoenes by silver-ion thin-layer chromatography (TLC), followed by GC analysis using the same 100 m capillary columns operated at low temperatures starting from 120°C. These analytical techniques are required to assess the purity of commercial CLA preparations, because their purity will affect the interpretation of any physiological and/or biochemical response obtained. Prior assessment of CLA preparations by TLC is also recommended to determine the presence of any other impurities. The availability of pure CLA isomers will permit the evaluation and analysis of individual CLA isomers for their nutritional and biological activity in model systems, animals, and humans. These techniques are also essential to evaluate dairy fats for their content of specific CLA isomers and to help design experimental diets to increase the level of the desired CLA isomers in dairy fats. These improved techniques are further required to evaluate the CLA profile in monogastric animals fed commercial CLA preparations for CLA enrichment of animal products. This is particularly important because absorption and metabolism will alter the ingested-CLA profile in the animal fed.

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Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) are ruminant animals native to the far north and little is known about their fatty acid composition. Subcutaneous adipose tissue (backfat) from 16 wild muskox was analyzed and compared to backfat from 16 barley fed beef cattle. Muskox backfat composition differed substantially from beef and the most striking difference was a high content of 18:0 (26.8 vs. 9.77%). This was accompanied by higher levels of most other saturated fatty acids except beef had more 16:0. Muskox backfat also had a lower level of cis-18:1 and this was related to a lower expression of steroyl-CoA desaturase mRNA. Beef backfat had a higher level of total trans-18:1 (4.25 vs. 2.67%). The most prominent trans-18:1 isomers in beef backfat were 10t-18:1 (2.13%) and 11t-18:1 (0.77%) whereas the most prominent isomers in muskox backfat were 11t-18:1 (1.41%), 13t/14t- (0.27%) and 16t-18:1 (0.23%). The total conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content was higher in beef backfat than muskox (0.67 vs. 0.50%) with 9c,11t-18:2 as the most abundant CLA isomer. The second most abundant CLA isomer in beef backfat was 7t,9c-18:2 (0.10%) whereas in muskox it was 11t13c-18:2 (0.04%). Muskox backfat had a higher content of 18:3n-3 and its elongation and desaturation products 20:5n-3, 22:5n-3 and 22:6n-3 and a lower n-6/n-3 ratio. Overall, the high forage diet of muskox seemed to produce a healthier fatty acid profile and highlighted the need to develop feeding strategies for intensively raising beef that will not negatively impacting fatty acid composition.

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Pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world, but typical feeding practices give it a high omega-6 (n-6) to omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid ratio and make it a poor source of n-3 fatty acids. Feeding pigs n-3 fatty acids can increase their contents in pork, and in countries where label claims are permitted, claims can be met with limited feeding of n-3 fatty acid enrich feedstuffs, provided contributions of both fat and muscle are included in pork servings. Pork enriched with n-3 fatty acids is, however, not widely available. Producing and marketing n-3 fatty acid enriched pork requires regulatory approval, development costs, quality control costs, may increase production costs, and enriched pork has to be tracked to retail and sold for a premium. Mandatory labelling of the n-6/n-3 ratio and the n-3 fatty acid content of pork may help drive production of n-3 fatty acid enriched pork, and open the door to population-based disease prevention polices (i.e., food tax to provide incentives to improve production practices). A shift from the status-quo, however, will require stronger signals along the value chain indicating production of n-3 fatty acid enriched pork is an industry priority.

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. 2010. Evaluation of wheat or corn dried distillers' grains with solubles on performance and carcass characteristics of feedlot steers. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 90: 259Á269. A study was conducted on crossbred steers (n0275; 376924 kg) to evaluate performance and carcass quality of cattle fed wheat or corn dried distillers' grains with solubles (DDGS). The control ration contained 86.6% rolled barley grain, 5.7% supplement and 7.7% barley silage (DM basis). The four treatments included replacement of barley grain at 20 or 40% of the diet (DM basis) with wheat or corn DDGS. Steers were slaughtered at a common end weight of 645 kg with 100 steers randomly (n 020 per treatment) selected for determination of the retail yield of sub-primal boneless boxed beef (SPBBB). Data were analyzed as a completely randomized design using pen as the experimental unit. Feeding increasing levels of wheat DDGS led to a quadratic increase in dry matter intake (DMI) (PB0.01), whereas increasing levels of corn DDGS led to a quadratic decrease in DMI (P00.01). Average daily gain was not influenced (P00.13) by feeding wheat or corn DDGS, but cattle fed corn DDGS exhibited a quadratic increase (P00.01) in gain:feed. As a result, a quadratic increase (P B0.01) in calculated NE g of the diet was observed as corn DDGS levels increased. A linear decrease (P00.04) in days on feed (169, 166 and 154 d) was noted when increasing levels of wheat DDGS (0, 20 and 40%) were fed. Dressing percentage increased in a linear fashion with wheat DDGS (P B0.01) inclusion level and in a quadratic fashion (P 00.01) as corn DDGS inclusion level increased although other carcass traits were not affected (P0.10) by treatment. The results indicate that replacement of barley grain with corn or wheat DDGS up to 40% of the diet (DM) can lead to superior performance (improved gain:feed or reduced days on feed, respectively) with no detrimental effect on quality grade or carcass SPBBB yield. Incidence des extraits solubles secs de distillerie de ble´ou de maı¨s sur le rendement et les parame`tres de la carcasse des bouvillons d'engrais. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 90: 259Á269. Les auteurs ont effectue´une e´tude sur des bouvillons hybrides (n 0275; 376924 kg) en vue d'e´valuer le rendement et la qualite´de la carcasse des animaux engraisse´s avec des extraits solubles secs de distillerie (ESSD) de ble´ou de maı¨s. La ration te´moin contenait 86,6 % de flocons d'orge, 5,7 % de supple´ment et 7,7 % d'ensilage d'orge (matie`re se`che). Les quatre traitements incluaient la substitution de 20 % ou de 40 % d'orge (matie`re se`che) par des ESSD de ble´ou de maı¨s. Les animaux ont e´te´sacrifie´s quand leur poids atteignait 645 kg et on en a se´lectionne´une centaine au hasard (n 020 par traitement) pour de´terminer le rendement au de´tail de boeuf de coupe secondaire de´sosse´en caisse carton (BCSDCC). Les donne´es ont e´te´analyse´es comme si elles e´manaient d'un essai comple`tement randomise´ayant l'enclos pour unite´expe´rimentale. La concentration croissante d'ESSD de ble4To whom corres...