Odd- and Branched-Chain Fatty Acids in Lamb Meat as Potential Indicators of Fattening Diet Characteristics

Abstract

There is a growing interest of researchers in meat authentication in terms of geographical and dietary background of animals, and several analytical methods have been proposed for the purpose of investigating this. We hypothesized that the odd- and branched-chain fatty acid (OBCFA) profile in intramuscular fat (IMF) might suffice to distinguish lamb meat entering the food chain supply on the basis of the type of diet fed to lambs during the fattening period. A total of 30 individual OBCFA profiles, quantified by gas chromatography, of IMF of Manchego lambs were used. During the fattening period (42 days), the lambs were fed three diets differing in concentrate composition: (i) Control, concentrate typical of commercial fattening rations, rich in starch and based on cereals and soybean meal; (ii) Camelina, similar to Control but replacing 50% of the soybean meal with camelina meal; and (iii) Fibrous, concentrate rich in neutral detergent fiber (NDF), based on fibrous by-products and not including cereals nor soybean meal. The OBCFA were grouped into three classes (linear odd, iso and anteiso fatty acids) and were then submitted to a linear discriminant analysis, using the feeding treatments as grouping variable and the OBCFA class contents in IMF as quantitative variables. The results suggested that a high NDF to starch ratio of the concentrate, being the lowest for Control (CON) treatment and the highest for Fibrous (FIB) treatment, would be negatively related to the odd/anteiso ratio and positively related to the iso/(anteiso+odd) FA ratio in IMF. Determination of OBCFA profile in lamb meat would be useful to monitor the feeding regime (starch- or NDF-rich) of lambs entering the food chain supply.

Fatty Acid and Multi-Isotopic Analysis (C, H, N, O) as a Tool to Differentiate and Valorise the Djebel Lamb from the Mountainous Region of Tunisia

“…Therefore, the BCFA concentration may be used to differentiate the origin of lamb meat in relation to the diet of lambs. This finding supports that of Gómez-Cortés et al [ 26 ] on the use of BCFA as a meat origin discriminant.…”

Intramuscular Fatty Acids in Meat Could Predict Enteric Methane Production by Fattening Lambs

“…Samples of Longissimus thoracis muscle were obtained for intramuscular FA analysis after 6 days of aging at 4 • C. IMF was extracted following the Bligh and Dyer procedure [24] adding BHT as antioxidant, and total lipids were preserved in amber vials frozen at −17 • C until derivatization. Fatty acids were derivatized to methyl esters by base-catalyzed methanolysis and quantified by gas chromatography with an Agilent model 6890 N network system (Palo Alto, CA, USA) fitted with an autoinjector, a flame ionization detector (FID) and a CP-Sil 88 fused silica capillary column (100 m 0.25 mm i.d., Varian, Middelburg, The Netherlands), as described by Gómez-Cortés et al [18,20]. A total of 59 FA were identified and quantified in lamb IMF.…”

“…In a recent paper, we showed that the intramuscular FA profile of meat could be a useful tool to monitor the feeding background of lambs entering the food supply chain [18]. The aim of the present study was to further explore the usefulness of the intramuscular FA profile to estimate the environmental impact of intensive lamb raising in terms of CH 4 production.…”

Comparison of Milk Odd- and Branched-Chain Fatty Acids among Human, Dairy Species and Artificial Substitutes

“…The OBCFA could be considered as biomarkers of the rumen function of animals. Some studies showed that cellulosolytic bacteria are rich in iso-BCFA, whereas the linear odd-chain fatty acid (linear-OCFA) and anteiso-BCFA are mainly abundant in amylolytic ones [ 4 , 23 ]. Considering the strong relationship between diet composition and bacteria microflora, OBCFA could also give information about proper rumen function.…”