Dietary alpha-linolenic acid enhances omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid levels in chicken tissues

L Kartikasari, R Hughes, M Geier, Maria Makrides, Robert Gibson

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    72 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The effects of enriching broiler chicken diets with a vegetable source of n-3 fat in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3. n-3) on the accumulation of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) in chicken meat were investigated. Sixty unsexed one-day-old broiler chickens (Cobb 500) were randomly allocated to one of six diets (n=10 birds/diet) for 4 weeks. The ALA levels varied from 1 to 8% energy (%en) while the level of the n-6 fatty acid linoleic acid (LA, 18:2. n-6) was held to less than 5%en in all diets. At harvest (day 28) the levels of n-3 LCPUFA including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in breast and thigh meat increased in a curvilinear manner as dietary ALA increased, reaching 4- to 9-fold above the levels seen in control birds. In contrast, arachidonic acid (AA) was reduced in response to increasing dietary ALA.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)103-109
    Number of pages7
    JournalProstaglandins Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids
    Volume87
    Issue number4-5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Oct 2012

    Keywords

    • Alpha-linolenic acid
    • Chicken meat
    • Docosahexaenoic acid
    • Eicosapentaenoic acid
    • Omega-3 enrichment

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