Effects of Dietary Supplementation with Rapeseed and Linseed Oil on the Composition of Fatty Acids in Porcine Muscle Tissue

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of dietary supplementation with rapeseed and linseed oils on changes of the fatty acid profile in porcine meat. The research was conducted on 45 fattening pigs divided into three groups. Group 1 was given a diet with 2% of sunflower oil, group 2 was given a diet with 2% of rapeseed oil and group 3 was given a diet supplemented with 2% of linseed oil. The highest content of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and the most favourable ratio of n-6/n-3 PUFA was determined in the meat of pigs that were fed diets with linseed oil (P < 0.001), whereas the meat of pigs that were fed diets with sunflower oil had an unfavourable ratio of these acids. The results point out the necessity of finding out optimal portions of forages rich in PUFA to improve the ratio of fatty acids in porcine muscle tissue.

Effect of linseed oil sediment in the diet of pigs on the growth performance and fatty acid profile of meat

“…As expected, the results of our trials indicated that there was a significant increase in α-linolenic (C18:3n-3), eicosatrienoic (C20:3n-3), and eicosapentaenoic (C20:5n-3) fatty acids in the meat of both treated groups. This agrees with the findings of Riley et al (2000), Enser et al (2000), Rey et al (2004), and Kralik et al (2010), who also indicated that dietary linseed or linseed oil supplement resulted in a significant increase of the above-mentioned fatty acids.…”

“…However, it should be noted that no significant differences for the docosahexaenoic (C22:6n-3) fatty acid were found in our study between the treated and control groups, notwithstanding the intake of linseed oil sediment. This agrees with the findings of Riley et al (2000), Wood et al (2003), and Václavková and Bečková (2007), who supplemented pig feed with linseed or linseed oil, but contradicts the findings of Cunnane et al (1990), Enser et al (2000), and Kralik et al (2010), who reported a significant increase of C22:6n-3 in the meat.…”

“…It was found that the treatment of experimental group 1 resulted in significantly lower content of palmitoleic (C16:1n-7) and vaccenic (C18:1n-7) MUFA. Okrouhlá et al (2013) also reported lower content of palmitoleic (C16:1n-7) fatty acid in the study with linseed, but as MUFA can be synthesized in the pig body, their contents in meat are not so important as those of PUFA Kralik et al, 2010). Bečková and Václavková (2010) and Okrouhlá et al (2013) indicated that linseed in the diet of pigs decrease total MUFA; however, no similar results were found in our study.…”

“…This is in agreement with the findings of Sheard et al (2000) and Wood et al (2003), who indicated that dietary linseed supplement reduced the ratio to 4 or even less. Rey et al (2004) and Kralik et al (2010) also reported that supplementation of pig diets with linseed oil had a significant effect on the ratio in pork, making it more suitable for human nutrition.…”

“…This is because of the existing regularity that the composition of polyunsaturated fatty acids in pig feeds influences the PUFA composition in meat (Nguyen et al, 2003). A conventional feed for fattening pigs contains insufficient amount of n-3 fatty acids and has improper n-6:n-3 and PUFA:SFA ratios (Kralik et al, 2010). As linoleic (C18:2n-6) and α-linolenic (C18:3n-3) PUFA cannot be synthesized by porcine organism, the contents of these fatty acids in meat are dependent on their contents in the feed (Okrouhlá et al, 2013).…”