Effect of dietary fat source on fatty acid profile and lipid oxidation of eggs

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of supplementary dietary lipid sources on the fatty acid profile and lipid oxidation of eggs. Five isoenergetic (12.6 MJ AME/kg DM) and isonitrogenous (170 g CP/kg DM) diets were formulated, using a control diet (50 : 50 blend of fish-and linseed oil), fish oil, sunflower oil, high oleic acid (HO) sunflower oil and tallow at a 30 g/kg inclusion level. Two hundred individually caged HyLine Silver-Brown hens (20 weeks of age) were randomly allocated to the five dietary treatments (n = 40 hens/treatment). Birds received the experimental diets from 20 weeks of age. At 30 weeks of age, 12 eggs per treatment were randomly selected for analyses of egg yolk fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and peroxide values (PV). Dietary lipid sources affected FAME, TBARS and PV of egg yolk significantly. The fish oil treatment resulted in the highest TBARS (0.27 mg malonaldehyde/kg yolk) and PV (3.96 milli-equivalent peroxide/kg fat) whereas the HO sunflower oil resulted in the lowest TBARS (0.13 mg malonaldehyde/kg yolk) and PV (2.77 milli-equivalent peroxide/kg fat). Fish oil also resulted in the lowest n-6 to n-3 ratio (1.16 to 1), while sunflower oil resulted in the highest ratio (24.6 to 1). Results indicate that the fatty acid profile of eggs could be altered by means of dietary intervention. However, an improvement of omega-3 type fatty acids of eggs will result in a higher susceptibility to lipid oxidation and possibly a shorter shelf-life of stored eggs.