Effect of dietary oil supplementation on fatty acid profile of backfat and intramuscular fat in finishing pigs

Abstract

Two groups of finishing gilts were fed, for 4 weeks, a commercial feed enriched (2%) with either rapeseed oil or sunflower oil. Pig growth was monitored bi-weekly and the fatty acid composition of backfat and Longissimus muscle was determined after slaughtering. Type of dietary oil affected significantly the fatty acid profile of pork fat, especially the C18:3n-3 concentration which was higher in pigs fed rapeseed oil than in those fed sunflower oil. The content of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) of Longissimus muscle was significantly higher than that of backfat, due to the its higher concentration of C18:1cis9 and C16:1. Differently, the long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) content was higher in backfat than in Longissimus muscle. These results confirm that it is possible to manipulate the fatty acid composition of the diet, in order to improve the health properties of the adipose tissues of pork meat.