Evaluating the quality of feed fats and oils and their effects on pig growth performance

Abstract

Feed fats and oils provide significant amounts of energy to swine diets, but there is large variation in composition, quality, feeding value, and price among sources. Common measures of lipid quality include moisture, insolubles, and unsaponifiables (MIU), titer, and free fatty acid content, but provide limited information regarding their feeding value. Lipid peroxidation is an important quality factor related to animal growth performance and health, but maximum tolerable limits in various lipids have not been established. Several indicative assays can be used to detect the presence of various peroxidation compounds, but due to the complexity and numerous compounds produced and degraded during peroxidation process, no single method can adequately determine the extent of peroxidation. Until further information is available, using a combination of peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and anisidine value appear to provide a reasonable assessment of the extent of peroxidation in a lipid at a reasonable cost. However, fatty acid composition of the lipid being evaluated should be considered when selecting specific assays. Predictive tests can also be used to estimate the stability or susceptibility of lipids to peroxidation and include active oxygen method, oil stability index, and oxygen bomb method. A review of 16 published studies with pigs has shown an average decrease of 11.4% in growth rate, 8.8% feed intake fed isocaloric diets containing peroxidized lipids compared to diets containing unperoxidized lipids of the same source. Furthermore, serum vitamin E content was generally reduced and serum TBARS content was increased when peroxidized lipids were fed in these studies, suggesting that feeding peroxidized lipids negatively affects metabolic oxidative status of pigs. However, it is unclear if antioxidants are useful additions to lipids to maintain optimal nutritional value, or if their addition to swine diets is beneficial in overcoming a metabolic oxidative challenge.

Growth performance, oxidative stress and immune status of newly weaned pigs fed peroxidized lipids with or without supplemental vitamin E or polyphenols

“…Studies evaluating the impact of peroxidized oils in livestock have shown variable results, including no effects on growth performance of rabbits [6], a reduction in feed intake in sheep [7], pigs, and broilers [8], a reduction in growth of pigs [9][10][11][12][13], broilers [8,14,15], and rats [16], increased morbidity and mortality in pigs [17], reduced oxidative stability of pork [18], no oxidative effects of sheep meat [19], alteration of the nutritional quality of chicken and rabbit meat [20], and compromised oxidative status in animals [4,[14][15][16]21] causing degradation of cellular components, including protein, lipids, and DNA [15,21].…”

Farm animal welfare, productivity and meat quality: Interrelation with redox status regulation and antioxidant supplementation as a nutritional intervention (Review)

“…Therefore, there is an urgent need to return to a balanced fatty acid diet by decreasing the intake of cholesterol and saturated fats (48). It has been found that the oxidative modification of lipids, which are susceptible to peroxidation, degrades animal productivity and meat quality (49,50). Towards this direction, a herbal extract mixture administered to animals has been shown to significantly increase the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), creating meat with beneficial health properties which is less susceptible to oxidation (51).…”

The effect of inulin supply to high‐fat diet rich in saturated fatty acids on pork quality and profile of sarcoplasmic protein in meat exudate

“…It is also well known that high level of dietary fat negatively impacts gut integrity and function, especially modified function and morphology of the small intestine of piglets (Shurson, Kerr, & Hanson, ). In turn, inulin is one of the prebiotics affecting the composition of gut microbiota and stimulates the growth of Bifidobacteria and/or Lactobacilli, which increases the absorption of nutrients in the intestines (Pouyamanesh, Amoli, Yaghmaei, & Ebrahim‐Habibi, ).…”