Effect of diet, sex and age on fatty acid metabolism in broiler chickens: SFA and MUFA

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different dietary lipid sources, age and sex on the SFA and MUFA metabolism in broiler chickens using a whole body fatty acid balance method. Four dietary lipid sources (palm fat, Palm; soyabean oil, Soya; linseed oil, Lin; and fish oil, Fish) were added at 3 % to a basal diet containing 5 % Palm. Diets were fed to female and male chickens from day 1 to either day 21 or day 42 of age. The accumulation (percentage of net intake and ex novo production) of SFA and MUFA was significantly lower in broilers fed on Palm than in broilers fed on the other diets (85·7 v. 97·4 %). Conversely, b-oxidation was significantly higher in Palm-fed birds than the average of the other dietary treatments (14·3 v. 2·6 %). On average, 33·1 % of total SFA and MUFA accumulated in the body were elongated, and 13·8 % were D-9 desaturated to longer chain or more unsaturated metabolites, with lower proportions being elongated and desaturated for the Palm and Fish diets than for the Soya and Lin diets. Total in vivo apparent elongase activity decreased exponentially in relation to the net intake of SFA and MUFA, while it increased with age. Total in vivo apparent D-9 desaturase activity was not significantly affected by dietary treatment or age. Total ex novo production and b-oxidation of SFA and MUFA showed a negative and positive curvilinear relationship with net intake of SFA and MUFA, respectively. Sex had no effect on SFA and MUFA metabolism. Dietary SFA are associated with an increase in LDL and a decrease in HDL as a risk factor for CVD, obesity and associated disorders (1,2) . The current dietary recommendations for reducing the risk of CVD underline reducing SFA intake (mainly 16 : 0) by increasing MUFA (mainly 18 : 1n-9) in the diet (3) . The ratio of TAG:cholesterol in postprandial TAG-rich lipoprotein of healthy men is inversely correlated with the ratio of 18 : 1n-9 over 16 : 0 and with the MUFA:SFA ratio in dietary fat (3)

Difference in fatty acid composition and related nutritional indices of meat between two lines of slow-growing chickens slaughtered at different ages

“…In fact, Kazala et al (1999) observed a negative relationship between the intramuscular fat content and the elongase activity in beef. Our results are in line with Poureslami et al (2010), who reported a significant increase in elongase with age in broilers. In a study on the fatty acid profile and lipid metabolism, Dal Bosco et al (2012) reported a significant effect of the genotype of the birds on the elongase activity.…”

Nutrient digestibility, egg quality, and fatty acid composition of brown laying hens fed camelina or flaxseed meal

“…A decrease in digestibility was also observed for oleic acid (18:1) in CAM10 and FLAX10 diets. Overall, the current study showing reduction in the digestibility of unsaturated fatty acids upon increase in chain length increase corroborates previously reported studies in poultry [42,43]. No significant differences were observed in apparent digestibility of α-linolenic acid or total n-3 fatty acids in control and CAM10 diet-fed birds.…”

“…No significant differences were observed in apparent digestibility of α-linolenic acid or total n-3 fatty acids in control and CAM10 diet-fed birds. Higher apparent fecal digestibility of different polyunsaturated fatty acids compared with unsaturated fatty acids in broiler chickens were reported earlier [42]. Zelenka et al [43] observed that the digestibility of α-linolenic acid was significantly higher than that of linoleic acid.…”

Levels of fatty acids in the whole body of hens and cocks of the Cobb 500 and Ross 308 hybrid combinations at the end of the fattening period

“…Information about the levels of fatty acids in the whole body of broiler chickens at the time of slaughter with regard to sex and the currently used modern hybrids is largely missing. For example (Poureslami et al 2010a) reported that sex has only a marginal effect on n-3 and n-6 PUFA metabolism and no effect on metabolism of SaFA and MUFA (Poureslami et al 2010b). In marked contrast to these earlier data, the results of our trial document the existence of effects of sex on FA levels.…”