Feeding protected fish oil to increase n-3 PUFA of kidney tissue in rams

Abstract

In recent years awareness of the importance of the fatty acid composition of ruminants meat and milk products has increased, with a particular emphasis on n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, for example, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; C20:5 n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; C22:6 n-3), as these can have beneficial effects on animal performance and reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in humans. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding dietary protected fish oil(FO) and Green lipped mussel of (GLM)on lipid composition of kidney tissue.Twelve Suffolk rams with a mean age 7.0 months ± 15 days with an average live weight of 93 (±3.5) kg were divided randomly into four groups of 3 rams per group and housed individually.The rams were randomly allocated to each of foure fatty acid (FA) sources; Megalac (M), Megalac with Green lipped mussel (MGLM), Fish oil (FO) and Fish oil + Green lipped mussel (FOGLM). Rams offered fish oil and fish oil with GLM diets contain higher level of C20:5 n-3 and C22:6 n-3(p<0.001) in the kidneytissue compared to rams offered on the Megalac diets.In conclusion, dietary GLM, FO and FOGLM altered the fatty acid composition of lipids of kidney tissue of rams.