Deposition of dietary bioactive fatty acids in tissues of broiler chickens

Abstract

This study examined the deposition of dietary bioactive fatty acids (FAs), including medium-chain and essential FAs, in tissues of broiler chickens. Six hundred newly hatched chicks were allotted to 4 treatments, 6 replicates of 25 chicks per treatment. The chicks were fed diets containing 0%, 1.6%, 4.0%, or 6.4% medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) for 36 d. The abdominal fat deposition, fat content, and FA composition of breast meat, thigh meat, and abdominal fat were measured. The accumulation rate (AR) of bioactive FAs in the tissues was estimated as the slope of the linear regression between the FA composition of tissues and diets. Results showed that a diet containing 6.4% MCTs reduced the abdominal fat deposition and fat content of thigh meat (P＜0.05). Essential FAs had higher AR than did medium-chain FAs. The AR of C10:0 was higher than that of C8:0. Moreover, C6:0 could not be detected in the tissues of broiler chickens. In conclusion, essential, but not medium-chain, FAs could efficiently deposit in tissues of broiler chickens.