Effects of Dietary Fatty Acids on Lipid Traits in the Muscle and Perirenal Fat of Growing Rabbits Fed Mixed Diets

Abstract

Simple SummaryPolyunsaturated fatty acids in human foods have been shown to have health benefits. We investigated the potential to incorporate them into rabbit meat by adding them to the diet. Good relationships between dietary fatty acids (FAs) and their content in longissimus dorsi muscle and perirenal fat of rabbits was established, especially the latter. The results should make it possible to enhance the polyunsaturated fatty acid content of rabbit meat, with benefits to the health of human consumers.AbstractThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of various raw materials (spirulina, curcuma, tomato pomace, false flax, linseed, chia, perilla seeds) as suitable polyunsaturated fatty acid n-3 (n-3 PUFA) sources, on the lipid traits in the longissimus dorsi muscle and perirenal fat of growing rabbits. The fatty acid (FA) analyses of the diets, carried out by gas chromatography, differed over a wide range on the basis of the highly varied ingredients in 27 experimental formulations. Among the 29 identified FAs, three from feeds were catabolized in the rabbits, five were de novo synthesized and stored chiefly in the muscle. It was possible to linearly characterize the incorporation from the feed to the muscle of 16 FAs. This study has confirmed that the dietary inclusion of various raw materials could be considered as a way of enriching the n-3 PUFA of rabbit meat. A proposal for the prediction of n-3 PUFA from dietary α-linolenic acid (C18:3 n-3) and a panel of another 10 FAs has been made for intramuscular fat (R2 = 0.94) and perirenal fat (R2 = 0.96).

Effects of dietary fish oil supplementation on performance, meat quality, and cecal fermentation of growing rabbits

“…In agreement with our results, previous studies have shown the influence of dietary FA profile on FA deposition in rabbit carcass (Xiccato, 1999;Benatmane et al, 2011;Tres et al, 2014). In addition, good relationships between dietary FA and their content in LM and perirenal fat have been reported by Peiretti (2012) in a review of studies involving 27 diets varying in FA profile. However, individual FA differed in their incorporation in muscle and fat, and regression equations of individual FA in LM and perirenal fat on the same FA in the diet were different for the 2 tissues (Peiretti, 2012).…”

“…In addition, good relationships between dietary FA and their content in LM and perirenal fat have been reported by Peiretti (2012) in a review of studies involving 27 diets varying in FA profile. However, individual FA differed in their incorporation in muscle and fat, and regression equations of individual FA in LM and perirenal fat on the same FA in the diet were different for the 2 tissues (Peiretti, 2012). A different response to dietary FA in LM and perirenal fat was also observed in our study, as long-chain n-3 PUFA concentrations and n-6/n-3 ratio in PUFA rabbits were greater and lower, respectively, in LM than in perirenal fat.…”

“…Human dietary recommendations often focus on the need of increasing the intake of long chain n-3 PUFA (18, 20, and 22 carbon atoms) due to their beneficial effects on health (Gil and Gil, 2015). Dietary supplementation of long chain n-3 PUFA has been shown to increase their content in rabbits' meat (Xiccato, 1999;Peiretti, 2012;Bianchi et al, 2009), and meat content in eicosapentaenoic (C20:5n-3), docosapentaenoic (C22:5n-3), and docosahexaenoic (C22:6n-3) acids was reported to be higher by enriching with fish than with vegetable oils (Benatmane et al, 2011;Tres et al, 2014). These long chain n-3 fatty acids (FA) are implicated in the development of the immune response (Fortun-Lamothe and Boullier, 2007), and their dietary supplementation can increase both kits BW at birth (Rebollar et al, 2014) and postweaning viability (Maertens et al, 2005).…”

Effect of Pomegranate Peel Addition to the Diet Enriched With Linseed Oil on Performance, Lipid Traits in the Meat, Blood Lipid Profile and Antioxidant Property of Rabbits Under Summer Conditions

“…Trebušak et al (2011) found that linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid were increased while; palmatic acid was decreased when rabbits fed diet contained linseed oil and consecutively caused a significant decrease in the n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio. Similarly, Peiretti (2012) reported that feeding rabbits with linseed oil increased unsaturated fatty acids, while saturated fatty acids were decreased.…”

Reproductive long-term effects, endocrine response and fatty acid profile of rabbit does fed diets supplemented with n-3 fatty acids

“…This frequently leads to suboptimal concentration of n-3 PUFA in cell membranes, which may negatively affect physiological regulation, including reproductive response and newborn survival (for review, see Wathes et al, 2007). The proportions of different PUFA in animal tissues reflect the dietary consumption, and particularly in rabbits, there is the capability of modifying the FA profile through the use of unsaturated dietary fat sources (Hernández et al, 2000;Tres et al, 2008Tres et al, , 2009Benatmane et al, 2011;Al-Nouri et al, 2012;Dal Bosco et al, 2012;Peiretti, 2012).…”