The fatty acid composition of lipids from muscle and adipose tissues of pigs fed various oil mixtures differing in their ratio between oleic acid and linoleic acid

Abstract

High concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in meat have detrimental effects on its technical properties. The present study was carried out to investigate whether PUFA levels in pork can be reduced by increasing the concentrations of oleic acid in pig diets. To this end a bifactorial experiment was carried out with 48 female growing finishing pigs. Six different diets were used with two different concentrations of linoleic acid (12 vs. 24 g/kg) and three different concentrations of oleic acid (12 vs. 18 vs. 24 g/kg). The experiment started at a body weight (BW) of 58 kg and continued until 115 kg BW. The fatty acid composition of total lipids of backfat, perirenal fat and musculus (m.) longissimus dorsi was analysed. Concentrations of linoleic acid and total PUFA in backfat and perirenal fat were affected only by the dietary linoleic acid content but not at all by the dietary oleic acid content. Increasing the dietary concentration of oleic acid raised the level of oleic acid in those tissues at the expense of saturated fatty acids, suggesting competition between monounsaturated fatty acids and saturated fatty acids for incorporation into triglycerides. At the low dietary linoleic acid concentration, the percentages of linoleic acid and total PUFA in total lipids of m. longissimus dorsi were also unaffected by the dietary oleic acid content. In contrast, at the high dietary linoleic acid concentration, percentages of linoleic acid and total PUFA of the m. longissimus dorsi were reduced by increasing the dietary concentration of oleic acid, suggesting that oleic acid and linoleic acid compete for incorporation into muscle lipids. Thus, at high dietary linoleic acid levels the fatty acid composition of the m. longissimus dorsi was favourably affected by high dietary oleic acid concentrations; in backfat and perirenal fat, however, no beneficial effect of high dietary oleic acid levels was seen.