Improvement Of Fatty Acid Composition Research Articles

Effect of Ginger (Zingiber officinale) and Cinnamon (Cinnamon zeylanicum) on Production, Fatty Acid Profile and Meat Quality of Broiler Chickens

Phytogenic feed additives play an important role in broilers' nutrition, contributing to the improvement of the performance and quality of meat. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of Ginger (Zingiber officinale) and Cinnamon (Cinnamon zeylanicum) on broiler chicken production, fatty acid profile, and meat quality. In the present study, 140-day-old Vencob-400 broiler chicks were divided into 7 groups, including the control group (with no additives, T0), and T1 to T6 groups receiving varying concentrations of cinnamon and ginger. Accordingly, the chickens’ diet in T1 was supplemented with 1.0% cinnamon, T2 with 2.0% cinnamon, T3 with 3.0% cinnamon, T4 with 1.0% ginger, T5 with 2.0% ginger, and T6 with 3.0% ginger, all calculated based on dry matter. The carcass traits, weight of immune organs, organoleptic tests, and fatty acid profile of meat (breast and thigh) were recorded after the age of 42 days. The findings indicated that the breast and thigh had the highest organ weights in group T4 compared to other groups, however, the neck, back, drumstick, wing, and heart were not affected. The inclusion of 2% cinnamon (T2) and 1% ginger (T4) in the diet, significantly enhanced the color, texture, flavor, juiciness, and overall acceptability of the meat, compared to the diet of the control group. Adding a supplement of 2% cinnamon or 1% ginger powder to the diet of broiler chickens significantly decreased the percentage of total saturated fatty acid and increased the total unsaturated fatty acid (breast and thigh). The improvement in fatty acid composition is beneficial for the quality of the broiler meat. Based on these findings, it is recommended to supplement the diet of the broiler with either 2% cinnamon or 1% ginger powder to improve the carcass parameters and quality of the meat.

Physical activity (PA) impact on metabolome and immunity of oncogene addicted non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): The EXcellenT trial.

e20582 Background: Today patients (pts) with oncogene addicted advanced NSCLC receive molecular targeted therapies as first-line treatment ensuring high compliance to therapy, few side effects and long survival time. These pts are usually young and with a strong wish to regain the pre-diagnosis quality of life (QoL), including the ability to perform PA. It’s known that PA can impact significantly on metabolomic and immunity status, but to date only few studies on its role in NSCLC have been performed. The aim of the EXcellenT trial is to evaluate if a tailored PA program may have an impact on QoL and performances of this homogeneous subgroup of pts. An exploratory objective was to explore the complex interplay between PA and immune status and the influence of PA on metabolome. Methods: EXcellenT (Exercise in Extended oncogene addicted Lung Cancer in Active Treatment - NCT05306652) is an Italian monocentric prospective study enrolling 40 pts with oncogene-addicted advanced NSCLC in active treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). Pts are randomized in 2 arms: an interventional arm of a personalized supervised PA program or a counselling group of home-based exercise. We explored peripheral variations of T cells subsets during TKI treatment combined with exercise training to better define the immuno-dependence of these tumors. Fatty acid composition (FA) of plasma has been carried out using gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Immature and mature neutrophils, monocytes, CD34+ cells and megakaryocytes (MK) precursors have been determined through flow cytometry analysis. Results: A preliminary exploratory analysis on the first patients enrolled with 3 complete time point (baseline; week 4 and 12) was performed. To date 23 out of 40 pts have been enrolled, 46% of them with pre-diagnosis leisure-time physical activity. The oncogene identified are: ALK 52%, EGFR 26%, BRAF 9%, RET 4%, ROS1 9%. 35% had stable brain metastasis (mts) and 39% bone mts not at risk of skeletal-related events. FA analysis (4 pts) showed significant increase of monounsaturated fatty acids (p = 0.0329) during the study. According to immunophenotype, we observed (3 pts) a significant reduction of CD34+ cancer stem cell (p 0.0112) and a consistent increase in mature CD66b+CD10+ neutrophils with a trend of decrease in CD66b+CD10- cells. Conclusions: The ExcellenT trial is showing that PA programs are feasible and well accepted by patients with oncogene-addicted NSCLC. The QoL analysis will be performed at the end of enrolment. The preliminary analysis on metabolomic and immunity status shows an improvement of fatty acid composition and an increase of mature cell precursors compared to immature counterpart suggesting a potential role of PA in hindering tumor immune escape strategies. Clinical trial information: NCT05306652 .

Genetic architecture and key regulatory genes of fatty acid composition in Gushi chicken breast muscle determined by GWAS and WGCNA

BackgroundFatty acids composition in poultry muscle is directly related to its tenderness, flavour, and juiciness, whereas its genetic mechanisms have not been elucidated. In this study, the genetic structure and key regulatory genes of the breast muscle fatty acid composition of local Chinese chicken, Gushi-Anka F2 resource population by integrating genome-wide association study (GWAS) and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) strategies. GWAS was performed based on 323,306 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) obtained by genotyping by sequencing (GBS) method and 721 chickens from the Gushi-Anka F2 resource population with highly variable fatty acid composition traits in the breast muscle. And then, according to the transcriptome data of the candidate genes that were obtained and phenotypic data of fatty acid composition traits in breast muscle of Gushi chickens at 14, 22, and 30 weeks of age, we conducted a WGCNA.ResultsA total of 128 suggestive significantly associated SNPs for 11 fatty acid composition traits were identified and mapped on chromosomes (Chr) 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, 17, 21, and 27. Of these, the two most significant SNPs were Chr13:5,100,140 (P = 4.56423e-10) and Chr13:5,100,173 (P = 4.56423e-10), which explained 5.6% of the phenotypic variation in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). In addition, six fatty acid composition traits, including C20:1, C22:6, saturated fatty acid (SFA), unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), PUFA, and average chain length (ACL), were located in the same QTL intervals on Chr13. We obtained 505 genes by scanning the linkage disequilibrium (LD) regions of all significant SNPs and performed a WGCNA based on the transcriptome data of the above 505 genes. Combining two strategies, 9 hub genes (ENO1, ADH1, ASAH1, ADH1C, PIK3CD, WISP1, AKT1, PANK3, and C1QTNF2) were finally identified, which could be the potential candidate genes regulating fatty acid composition traits in chicken breast muscle.ConclusionThe results of this study deepen our understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying the regulation of fatty acid composition traits, which is helpful in the design of breeding strategies for the subsequent improvement of fatty acid composition in poultry muscle.

Improvement of fatty acid composition by a strain of Chaetoceros sp. isolated from Moroccan seawater of Sidi Moussa for biodiesel production

Improvement of fatty acid composition by a strain of Chaetoceros sp. isolated from Moroccan seawater of Sidi Moussa for biodiesel production

Homologous Overexpression of Acyl-CoA Thioesterase 8 Enhanced Free Fatty Acid Accumulation in Oleaginous Fungus Mucor circinelloides WJ11

Thioesterases play an essential role in the metabolism of fatty acids since they are considered one of the key enzymes to change the total amount and composition of fatty acid in an organism’s cells. Acyl-coenzyme A thioesterase 8 (ACOT8) exhibits substrate specificity mainly for short- to long-chain acyl-CoA. To identify and characterize the ACOT8 enzyme’s superfamily in Mucor circinelloides, three genes were characterized and homologously expressed in M. circinelloides WJ11 which has been used as a model organism to investigate the mechanism of lipid accumulation. Multiple sequence alignment showed that McACOT8s had significant conserved motifs in the ACOT8 family. Experimental data indicated that the biomass of the three recombinant strains (McACOT8a, McACOT8b and McACOT8c) was slightly lower than that of the control strain Mc2075, but the total fatty acid (TFA) content was significantly increased by 30.3, 21.5 and 23.9%, respectively, and the free fatty acid production increased from 12.9% (control strain) to 19.2, 25.2 and 26.2% (recombinant types), respectively, with a maximum increase of 103.1% in McACOT8c. The three strains did not show any significant improvement in fatty acid composition compared to the control strain. However, in terms of fatty acid composition of free fatty acid, McACOT8b and McACOT8c contained γ-linolenic acid (C18:3), which was not detected in the control strain or in McACOT8a, indicating that ACOT8b and ACOT8c had substrate specificity for C18:3. These results displayed that ACOT8 can increase TFA accumulation and that it may be an important target of genetic manipulation for microbial oil production.

Development of Intron Polymorphism Markers and Their Association With Fatty Acid Component Variation in Oil Palm.

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is a tropical woody oil crop of the palm family and is known as “the oil king of the world,” but its palm oil contains about 50% palmitic acid, which is considered unhealthy for humans. Intron polymorphisms (IP) are highly efficient and easily examined molecular markers located adjacent to exon regions of functional genes, thus may be associated with targeted trait variation. In order to speed up the breeding of oil palm fatty acid composition, the current study identified a total of 310 introns located within 52 candidate genes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis in the oil palm genome. Based on the intron sequences, 205 primer pairs were designed, 64 of which showed polymorphism among 70 oil palm individuals. Phenotypic variation of fatty acid content in the 70 oil palm individuals was also investigated. Association analysis revealed that 13 IP markers were significantly associated with fatty acid content variation, and these IP markers were located on chromosomes 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 of oil palm. The development of such IP markers may be useful for the genetic improvement of fatty acid composition in oil palm.

Integrative Modeling of Gene Expression and Metabolic Networks of Arabidopsis Embryos for Identification of Seed Oil Causal Genes.

Fatty acids in crop seeds are a major source for both vegetable oils and industrial applications. Genetic improvement of fatty acid composition and oil content is critical to meet the current and future demands of plant-based renewable seed oils. Addressing this challenge can be approached by network modeling to capture key contributors of seed metabolism and to identify underpinning genetic targets for engineering the traits associated with seed oil composition and content. Here, we present a dynamic model, using an Ordinary Differential Equations model and integrated time-course gene expression data, to describe metabolic networks during Arabidopsis thaliana seed development. Through in silico perturbation of genes, targets were predicted in seed oil traits. Validation and supporting evidence were obtained for several of these predictions using published reports in the scientific literature. Furthermore, we investigated two predicted targets using omics datasets for both gene expression and metabolites from the seed embryo, and demonstrated the applicability of this network-based model. This work highlights that integration of dynamic gene expression atlases generates informative models which can be explored to dissect metabolic pathways and lead to the identification of causal genes associated with seed oil traits.

Rapeseed supplements affect propitiously fatty acid composition of cow milk fat: A meta-analysis

Milk and dairy products together with animal fats are the major sources of undesirable saturated fatty acids (SFAs) in the human diet. Altering milk fat composition replacing a part of SFAs with unsaturated fatty acids thus offers an opportunity to decrease SFAs intake. Supplementation the diet of lactating cows with oilseeds has been a feasible method to improve milk fat composition. Rapeseed is the main source of lipids for animal nutrition in countries of temperate zone. Data from 22 studies published during 2010–2019, supplementing 20–292 g per kg diet DM (dry matter) daily of various rapeseed products (grouped into three categories, i) meal or expeller with fat content >5 g/100 g in DM, ii) intact or mechanically treated seeds and iii) oil), were assessed. Meta-analysis of the dataset (83 experimental variants, of these 30 and 53 control and supplemented, respectively) revealed significant improvement in fatty acid composition of milk fat. The supplementation of rapeseed products significantly decreased the proportion of SFAs (except for stearic acid) in favour particularly of oleic acid and thus of monounsaturated fatty acids. The contents of nutritionally required linoleic and α-linolenic acids were affected in a limited extent only. The efficacy of various forms of supplemented rapeseed on the main FAs and their groups differed. It can be therefore hardly given a univocal recommendation of an optimal form of rapeseed to be supplemented. Nevertheless, supplementation with meal/expeller seems to be applicable to farmers. The meta-analysis showed insignificant effects on milk yield and composition, except for fat content.

Identification of SNP loci and candidate genes related to four important fatty acid composition in Brassica napus using genome wide association study.

Rapeseed oil (canola, Brassica napus L.) is an important healthy vegetable oil throughout the world, the nutritional and economical value of which largely depends on its seed fatty acid composition. In this study, based on 201,187 SNP markers developed from the SLAF-seq (specific locus amplified fragment sequencing), a genome wide association study of four important fatty acid content traits (erucic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid) in a panel of 300 inbred lines of rapeseed in two environments (JXAU and JXRIS) was carried out. A total of 148 SNP loci significantly associated with these traits were detected by MLM model analysis respectively, and 30 SNP loci on A08 and C03 chromosomes were detected in three traits of erucic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid contents simultaneously. Furthermore, 108 highly favorable alleles for increasing oleic acid and linoleic acid content, also for decreasing erucic acid content simultaneously were observed. By a basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) search with in a distance of 100 Kb around these significantly SNP-trait associations, we identified 20 orthologs of the functional candidate genes related to fatty acid biosynthesis, including the known vital fatty acid biosynthesis genes of BnaA.FAE1 and BnaC. FAE1 on the A08 and C03 chromosomes, and other potential candidate genes involving in the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway, such as the orthologs genes of FAD2, LACS09, KCS17, CER4, TT16 and ACBP5. This study lays a basis for uncovering the genetic variations and the improvement of fatty acid composition in B. napus.

Perfil de ácidos graxos e características da carne de bovinos Nelore confinados com diferentes fontes lipídicas protegidas

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos da adição de fontes de lipídeos naturais e protegidos da degradação ruminal na dieta de bovinos Nelore confinados sobre características da carne, concentrações de lipoproteínas sanguíneas e perfil de ácidos graxos da gordura do músculo Longissimus dorsi. Foram utilizados 120 bovinos Nelore, não castrados (366,9±28,7kg), com aproximadamente 24 meses. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado, com três tratamentos: (CONTR) sem fonte adicional de lipídeo, (GDESP) com fonte de lipídeo natural (torta de algodão) e (GPROT) com fonte de lipídeo protegido rico em ácidos graxos poli-insaturados. Foram utilizadas 24 baias, cinco animais/baia, com oito repetições/tratamento, sendo as baias consideradas unidades experimentais. Foi observada (P<0,05) interação entre tratamento e dias de mensuração para colesterol e LDL, com maiores valores do tratamento GPROT nos dias 1 e 15, tendo o dia 84 valor intermediário aos demais tratamentos. Observaram-se efeitos de dias de mensuração, em que VLDL e triglicerídeos apresentaram valores crescentes nos dias 15, 84 e 1; enquanto o HDL teve maior valor no dia 1. Foi observado efeito (P<0,05) de tratamento para o perfil de ácidos graxos, com diminuição do C14:1, C16:1 e C17:1 e aumento do ácido transvaccênico, C18:2, ácidos graxos poli-insaturados (AGPI) e da relação AGPI: AGMI (ácidos graxos monoinsaturados) para os tratamentos GPROT e GDESP. Adição de lipídios na dieta, independentemente da fonte, promove melhora na composição de ácidos graxos da carne de bovinos Nelore confinados, aumentando a quantidade de ácidos graxos insaturados sem alterar as características qualitativas da carne.

Composition, environmental stability and potential of genetic improvement of fatty acids of Lupinus angustifolius

In the last decades procedures for obtaining protein isolates and concentrates derived from narrow-leafed lupins ( L. angustifolius ) for human nutrition have been developed. Since this processes starts with defatting of seeds, lupin oil is obtained in large quantities. Therefore, 50 genotypes of L. angustifolius were analysed regarding the fatty acid (FA) composition of seed oil and the environmental stability of fatty acid contents in order to get information on the application of lupin oil in the food industry. The results revealed an n-3/n-6 poly unsaturated fatty acid ratio of 0.13. Furthermore, the seed oil of L. angustifolius contains rather high amounts of saturated FAs (22%). Significant genotypic differences and a high heritability (h2>85%) for the content of all fatty acids are suggesting that the potential for genetic improvement of fatty acid composition by breeding is given. However, coefficients of variation below 10% for all considered traits point out that a rapid improvement in seed oil quality will be hindered by the narrow genetic base of the breeding material tested.

Fatty acid metabolism in lambs fed citrus pulp.

In the present study, we have hypothesized that replacing barley with high proportions of dried citrus pulp in a concentrate-based diet for lambs could increase the intake of unsaturated fatty acids and could reduce the rate of the ruminal biohydrogenation of PUFA, with a consequent improvement of the intramuscular fatty acid composition. To test this hypothesis, 26 Comisana lambs were divided into 3 groups and for 56 d were fed a barley-based concentrate diet (CON; 8 lambs) or 2 diets in which barley was replaced with 24% (CIT24; 9 lambs) or 35% (CIT35; 9 lambs) dried citrus pulp. An overall improvement of the fatty acid composition of LM from lambs fed citrus pulp-containing diets was found. The PUFA/SFA ratio was lower (P < 0.05) in the LM from lambs in the CON group compared with both the CIT24 and CIT35 groups. The thrombogenic index was lower (P < 0.05) in meat from lambs fed the CIT35 diet compared with those fed the CON diet. The CIT35 diet increased the proportion of C20:5 n-3 in the LM (P < 0.05), whereas the CIT24 diet enhanced that of C22:6 -3 (P < 0.05) compared with the CON diet. Some of these results might be explained considering that feeding the CIT24 and CIT35 diets increased the intake of total fatty acids (P < 0.05) and of C18:3 n-3 (P < 0.01) compared with feeding the CON treatment. On the other hand, phenolic compounds present in citrus pulp could have inhibited the ruminal biohydrogenation of PUFA. This is supported by the fact that regardless of the level of inclusion in the diet, citrus pulp increased the proportion of rumenic acid (P < 0.001) in LM compared with the CON diet. The plasma from lambs fed both CIT24 and CIT35 diets had a greater percentage of vaccenic acid (VA; < 0.001) compared with that from lambs fed the CON diet, and the CIT35 diet increased the proportion of rumenic acid in plasma compared with the CON treatment (P < 0.05). In the ruminal fluid, stearic acid (SA) tended to decrease, and the sum of CLA tended to increase (P = 0.09) with increasing level of citrus pulp in the diets. Furthermore, the SA/(SA + VA) ratio tended to be lower (P = 0.10) in the ruminal fluid from lambs fed the CIT35 diet compared with that of the CON group. In conclusion, our results support the hypothesis that replacing barley with citrus pulp in the diet of growing lambs improves intramuscular fatty acid composition and underline the need for specific studies to clarify the mechanisms by which feeding citrus pulp affects the fatty acid metabolism in ruminants.

Nutraceutical Properties of Meat from Grazing Podolian Young Bulls

The effect of rearing system (pasture with supplementation 15% crude protein OUT15 vs indoorIND) on meat nutritional and nutraceutical properties was evaluated in twenty Podolian young bulls. Meat quality characteristics were measured on three different muscles (Longissimus dorsi, LD, Semimembranosus, SM, Semitendinosus, ST), vacuum-packaged and chilled stored at 2℃ - 4℃ for 15 days. No differences were found on chemical composition in meat from animals reared with different rearing system. Pasture with supplementation produced an improvement in fatty acid composition with a higher polyunsaturated fatty acid percentage, particularly, conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) and very long chain ω3 PUFA, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Meat from young bulls reared at pasture with supplementation showed in all examined muscles the highest α-tocopherol content compared with meat from IND group. On the other hand, malondialdehyde content was not affected by the feeding treatment.

Preparation of biological fish silage and its effect on the performance and meat quality characteristics of quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

The aim of the present study was to produce fish silage by lactic acid fermentation and evaluate its use in feeding of quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica). An oven-dried mixture of fish silage and soybean meal (1:1 w/w) was used to prepare the diets with different levels of inclusion (0, 10, 20 and 30%) and evaluate its effect on the performance and meat quality of 160 quails. The inclusion level did not affect the growth and feed conversion ratio. The carcass yield (70.3%) and sensory quality of breast meat were not significantly different among the treatments (p>0.05). However, the concentration of unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic (C18:1n9C), linoleic (C18:2n6C), linolenic (C18:3n3), arachidonic (C20:4n6), cis eicosapentaenoic (C20:5n3) and cis docosahexaenoic (C22:6n3) increased in quail breast meat with the inclusion of fish silage:soybean mixture in the diet (p<0.05). Fish silage and its use in quail diets could offer a good alternative for fish waste utilization as feedstuff component for the improvement of fatty acid composition in its breast meat.

Mapping of QTLs controlling content of fatty acid composition in rapeseed (Brassica napus)

The improvement of fatty acid composition is one of the major goals of breeding in rapeseed (Brassica napus). The aim of this study was to provide more information on the genetic determination of fatty acid composition by investigating quantitative trait loci (QTLs). The study was based on two-year of field trials (in 2006 and 2007) with a population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs), which originated from a cross between GH06 and P174. The level of erucic acid (C22:1) was significantly negatively correlated with those of palmitic acid (C16:0), oleic acid (C18:1), linoleic acid (C18:2), linolenic acid (C18:3), and eicosenoic acid (C20:1) in both years. A total of 40 QTLs for six fatty acids were detected and most of them were clustered on linkage groups N8, N9, and N13. These results suggested strongly that there were significant correlations between the levels of fatty acid components and would be useful for the future improvement of breeding programs focused on fatty acids in rapeseed.

Effects of bovine fatty acid synthase, stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase, sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1, and growth hormone gene polymorphisms on fatty acid composition and carcass traits in Japanese Black cattle1

The quality of fat is an important factor in defining the quality of meat. Fat quality is determined by the composition of fatty acids. Among lipid metabolism-related genes, including fatty acid synthesis genes, several genetic variations have been reported in the bovine fatty acid synthase (FASN), stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1), and GH genes. In the present study, we evaluated the single and epistatic effects of 5 genetic variations (4 SNP and 1 insertion/deletion) in 4 genes (FASN, SCD, SREBP1, and GH) on the fatty acid composition of the longissimus thoracis muscle and carcass and meat quality traits in 480 commercial Japanese Black cattle. Significant single effects of FASN, SCD, and GH(L127V) polymorphisms on the fatty acid composition of the longissimus thoracis muscle were detected. The A293V polymorphism of SCD had the largest effect on myristic acid (C14:0, P < 0.001), myristoleic acid (C14:1, P < 0.001), stearic acid (C18:0, P < 0.001), oleic acid (C18:1, P < 0.001), and MUFA (P < 0.001). Polymorphisms in the FASN, SCD, and SREBP1 genes showed no effect on any meat yield trait. There were no significant epistatic effects on fatty acid composition among pairs of the 3 genes (FASN, SCD, and SREBP1) involved in fatty acid synthesis. No epistatic interactions (P > 0.1) were detected between FASN and SCD for any carcass trait. When the genotypes of 3 markers (FASN, SCD, and GH(L127V)) were substituted from the lesser effect allele to the greater effect allele, the proportion of C18:1 increased by 4.46%. More than 20% of the genetic variance in the C18:1 level could be accounted for by these 3 genetic markers. The present results revealed that polymorphisms in 2 fatty acid synthesis genes (FASN and SCD) independently influenced fatty acid composition in the longissimus thoracis muscle. These results suggest that SNP in the FASN and SCD genes are useful markers for the improvement of fatty acid composition in commercial Japanese Black cattle.

Influence of genotype and slaughtering age on meat from Altamurana and Trimeticcio lambs

The effect of genotype and age at slaughter (42 days vs. 70 days) on growth, carcass measurements and meat quality were evaluated in 40 Altamurana and Trimeticcio lambs. Meat quality (as defined by chemical and nutritional composition) were measured on two different muscles ( longissimus dorsi, LD, semimembranosus, SM). Trimeticcio lambs were heavier at birth ( P < 0.01) and had higher daily gains than Altamurana animals during the 0–42 days period, whereas no differences in growth rate were found during the 0–70 days period. Carcass measurements pointed out that Trimeticcio lambs had higher width of chest and width of pelvis and gave meat with more muscle and less bone than Altamurana lambs. Protein content was significantly higher in meat from Altamurana than from Trimeticcio lambs. The fat content of SM muscle was significantly higher in Trimeticcio than in Altamurana. The earlier slaughtering age produced an improvement in fatty acid composition with a lower percentage of total saturated fatty acid s and higher amount of total polyunsaturated fatty acids. In addition, meat from younger lambs displayed lower thrombogenic index and ω-6/ ω-3 ratio and higher PUFA/SFA ratio than meat from lambs slaughtered at 70 days.

Genetic relationship between lipid content and linolenic acid concentration in soybean seeds

Soybean contains about 20% oil in seeds and it is therefore currently an important oil seed crop. Considering the fatty acid composition which constitutes the soybean lipid, the concentration of linolenic acid is less than 10%. On the other hand, wild soybean contains about twice the linolenic acid concentration and half as much lipid content as that of soybean. Based on these differences in the lipid content and linolenic acid concentration between soybean and wild soybean, a genetic study on the fatty acid concentration and lipid content using G. max × G. soja populations was carried out. These traits showed normal distribution and were highly heritable in F2 and RIL populations; moreover; a negative correlation was shown between these traits. In addition, a QTL for the lipid content and linolenic acid concentration was detected in the same position near SSR marker Satt384 on LG E, suggesting that the factors controlling the lipid content might be partly shared by those of the linolenic acid concentration. Further elucidation of the regulatory aspects of these traits will provide information that could lead to the improvement of fatty acid composition and lipid content of soybean seeds.

Effect of forage to concentrate ratio on growth performance, and on carcass and meat quality of Podolian young bulls

The effect of forage to concentrate ratio: 60–40 [high concentrate group (HC) and 70–30 [low concentrate group (LC)] on growth, slaughtering performance and meat quality were evaluated in twenty organically farmed Podolian young bulls. Meat quality characteristics were measured on three different muscles [ Longissimus dorsi (LD), Semimembranosus (SM) Semitendinosus (ST)], vacuum-packaged and chilled stored at 2–4°C for 15 days. The animals in the HC group had higher weight gain than those in the LC group ( P < 0.05). Slaughter data were not influenced by ration composition. The higher forage to concentrate ratio produced an improvement in fatty acid composition of the three muscles, with a higher polyunsaturated to saturated ratio ( P < 0.001). Vitamin E and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were not affected by the feeding treatment. Panel scores for tenderness and flavour ( P < 0.01) and Warner–Bratzler Shear force ( P < 0.001) were significantly affected by muscle, the LD muscle being the most tender and the richest in flavour but they not affected by dietary treatment.

Vitamin E supplementation increases polyunsaturated fatty acids of RBC membrane in HCV-infected patients

Objective We investigated the effects of vitamin E supplementation on the fatty acid composition of red blood cell membrane phospholipids and on the clinical observations in patients with hepatitis C virus. Method Eight patients and control subjects were administered 500 mg/d of d-α-tocopherol for 12 wk. The α-tocopherol and fatty acid composition of phospholipids in red blood cells were analyzed before, at 4, 8, and 12 wk, and after 4 wk of washout of vitamin E administration. Results The α-tocopherol concentration in red blood cells increased 2.37-fold of the basal level during vitamin E supplementation. Serum alanine aminotransferase levels increased in five of eight patients with vitamin E supplementation. The arachidonic acid level, docosahexaenoic acid level, and ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acid in red blood cell membrane phospholipids, which were significantly lower in the patients than in the control subjects, were elevated at 8 and 12 wk after vitamin E supplementation. The improvement in fatty acid composition was observed particularly in the patients who responded to the vitamin E therapy. Conclusions Vitamin E therapy for the prevention of disease progression in patients with hepatitis C virus may be effective.