Abstract Background There has been an increased interest in nutritional strategies to manipulate the fatty acid profile of pigs. Dietary regimens involving the use of oils that are high in monosaturated fatty acid (MUFA), primarily oleic acid (OA), such as canola oil (CO), as well as in omega (n)-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), which are found in fish oil (FO), have been investigated aiming healthier fatty acid profile cuts, with a higher ratio of n-3 to n-6 fatty acids. Therefore, the effects of including 3% soybean oil (SO), CO, or FO in growing-finishing pig diets vs. feeding a standard commercial diet with 1.5% SO (control) on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, consumer acceptability, and intramuscular fatty acid composition of the longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle were evaluated. Results Dietary treatments had no effect on overall growth performance and pig carcasses. Although loins from pigs fed diets containing either 3% SO or CO showed a reduction (P = 0.05) in Warner-Bratzler shear force, only the addition of 3% SO to pig diets resulted in loin chops that were rated higher (P < 0.001) for consumer overall liking. Adding either 3% SO or CO increased (P < 0.01) the percentages of OA and total MUFA in the LL intramuscular fat compared to control- or FO-fed pigs. However, intramuscular fat from 3% SO- or CO-fed pigs had the lowest (P < 0.01) proportion of total n-3 PUFA than control- or FO-fed pigs. Including 3% fat, regardless of source, reduced (P < 0.01) total PUFA, total n-6 PUFA, and PUFA:saturated fatty acid (SFA) ratio than control-fed pigs. Dietary FO inclusion decreased (P < 0.01) n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio, but also increased total SFA (P < 0.01) and atherogenic index (P = 0.02) in the LL intramuscular fat. Conclusions Although adding 3% CO or FO to pig diets provided slight nutritional benefits to consumers in terms of MUFA and long chain n-3 PUFA contents, respectively, formulating growing-finishing diets with 1.5% SO was adequate enough in terms of LL intramuscular fatty acids composition for high quality meat destined to human consumption.

Canola oil is an important source of oleic acid, in addition to being an accessible source for its use in the production of pigs’ diets. Oleic acid in turn is a type of unsaturated fatty acid that in pork is beneficial for human health. Therefore, this study was conducted to describe the fatty acid profile in brain and liver tissues from pigs supplemented with canola oil for 98 days, during the growth and finishing phases. For the analysis was used eighteen male pigs that had free access to feed and water throughout the experimental period.  Dietary treatment consisted of corn-soybean meal growing-finishing diets supplemented with 3% fat from canola oil (CO). To obtain the fatty acid profile, the lipids from each tissue were cold extracted using the adapted method from Bligh and Dyer, methylated, and posteriorly injected in a gas chromatograph to obtain the fatty acid profile of the tissue. In both tissues there was a greater abundance of saturated fatty acids (stearic acid). The most abundant monounsaturated fatty acid was the oleic acid. Regarding polyunsaturated fatty acids, in the liver the most abundant was linoleic acid and in the brain docosahexaenoic acid. In summary, animals' diet influences the fatty acid profile in different tissues. Such modifications can increase unsaturated fatty acids concentration in relation to saturated, making pork healthier for human consumption.

Alimentos com elevado nível de ácidos graxos (AG) vêm ganhando preferência entre os consumidores devido aos diversos benefícios associados à saúde, como na prevenção de doenças cardiovasculares. A car