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Title: Effect of shed type and sunflower supplementation of fatty acid profile and nutritional implications in lamb tissues

Author
item Brown, Michael
item PENG, YUNSHUO - GANSU AGRIC. UNIV.
item WU, JIANPING - GANSU AGRIC. UNIV.

Submitted to: Journal of Animal Science
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/16/2009
Publication Date: 8/1/2009
Citation: Brown, M.A., Peng, Y., Wu, J. 2009. Effect of shed type and sunflower supplementation of fatty acid profile and nutritional implications in lamb tissues[abstract]. American Society of Animal Science Annual Meeting, July 12-16, 2009, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Available on-line: http://adsa.asas.org/meetings/2009/abstracts/toc.htm

Interpretive Summary: Abstract only.

Technical Abstract: Meat from Small Tail Han sheep is an important dietary component of people in western China. Five-mo-old Small Tail Han ewe lambs (n=40) were used to study the effect of sunflower seed (160 g/d) and protected fat (30 and 60 g/d) supplementation and type of shelter (conventional shed vs. greenhouse shed) on fatty acid composition in different tissues (longissimus dorsi muscle, subcutaneous back fat and kidney fat) in a winter feeding trial. Temperatures ranged from -12 to 6°C in conventional sheds and -3 to 20°C in greenhouse sheds. Lambs were assigned to eight treatment combinations in a completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement of treatments (shed type x supplement) with five lambs per treatment. Data were analyzed by mixed model procedures. Results showed that sunflower seed supplementation resulted in increased concentrations of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA, 18:2c9t11) (P < 0.05) in three tissues independent of shelter type. Total polyunsaturated fatty acids in muscle and kidney fat were greater than those in back fat (P < 0.05 and P < 0.10), and muscle was greater than kidney fat and back fat in ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids (P:S) (P < 0.01). Averaged over tissue and shelter, sunflower supplemented lambs were greater than lambs fed other supplements for P:S (P < 0.01). However, the sunflower seed also increased the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (P < 0.05) in all tissues, and to a greater extent in muscle (P = 0.10). In this study, protected fat supplementation did not substantially change the fatty acid profile of lamb tissues. Generally, fatty acid composition of lamb tissues was not affected by shelter treatment, but there was some evidence that tissue differences in oleic acid, CLA (18:2t10c12), and short-chained fatty acids depended on shed type (P < 0.10). Results imply that supplementation with sunflower seed can change fatty acid profile of different lipids in lambs and their nutritional value, but shed type has only a minor influence on fatty acid composition of lipids in muscle fat, kidney fat, and back fat.