Influence of exogenous application of n‐3 fatty acids on meat quality, lipid composition, and oxidative stability in pigs

Abstract

The effect of dietary n‐3 fatty acids on the fatty acid composition and lipid peroxidation of different tissues in pigs were studied. 20 castrated male pigs were included in this investigation, one half was fed daily a diet containing 1.3 g n‐3 fatty acids/kg diet (control) and 10 pigs were fed a diet containing 14 g n‐3 fatty acids/ kg diet (n‐3 diet) at the growing‐finishing period. The intake of dietary n‐3 fatty acids increased the concentration of these fatty acids in backfat, and the neutral and polar fractions of skeletal muscle and heart homogenates. The polar fraction showed an increased relative concentration of n‐3 fatty acids in comparison to control, while the n‐6 fatty acid content was reduced. In heart homogenates there was an enlargement of n‐3 fatty acids both in polar lipids and in neutral lipids whilst n‐6 fatty acids were decreased. Feeding n‐3 fatty acid enriched diet had no influence on meat quality parameters drip loss, meat colour or pH value. The lipid peroxidation (measured as malondialdehyde equivalents) was in the order liver > heart > skeletal muscle with higher values in the n‐3 group. However, by stimulation of oxidation by Fe2+/ascorbate for 3 hours the order of oxidative products in the n‐3 group was muscle > liver > heart, whereas in the control group the order was liver > heart = muscle. Summarized, feeding a highly n‐3 fatty acid enriched diet caused an incorporation of these fatty acids and increased the susceptibility to peroxidation in all investigated tissues.