Effect of Dietary Fat on the Fatty Acid Composition of Eggs and Tissues of the Hen

Abstract

THE proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in egg fat can be readily increased by increasing the level of PUFA in the diet (Cruickshank, 1934; Fisher and Leveille, 1957; Feigenbaum and Fisher, 1959; Wheeler et al., 1959; Murty and Reiser, 1961). Feigenbaum and Fisher (1959) reported that the egg fat was not influenced by dietary saturated fat whereas the body fat was influenced by ingestion of either unsaturated or saturated fat. In these studies of Feigenbaum and Fisher (1959) the alkaline isomerization method was used. Since this method measures saturated fatty acids indirectly, it was impossible to detect any changes in the relative quantities of the saturated fatty acids such as might occur when short chain (≤ C-14) fatty acids are fed. In the following study, gas chromatography was employed in order to determine more definitively whether egg yolk saturated fatty acids could be influenced by dietary saturated acids. In …