INFLUENCE OF DIETARY FULL-FAT SEEDS AND OILS ON TOTAL LIPID, CHOLESTEROL AND FATTY-ACID COMPOSITION OF BROILER MEATS

Total lipid and cholesterol contents of whole body carcass and the fatty acid composition of white and dark meat were determined in 64 female broilers (Hubbard) at 6 weeks of age. The broilers were raised on diets containing 10% raw or heated full-fat canola and flax seeds, and reconstituted mixtures of their corresponding meals supplemented with oil or animal tallow (6:4 wt wt-1). There were no significant differences between the raw and heated full-fat seeds for all the traits determined. Also, responses to the reconstituted mixtures of canola meal with canola oil or animal tallow and to the full-fat seeds were similar in terms of total tissue omega-3 fatty acids. However, reconstituted flax meal with flax oil significantly increased white-meat (P < 0.05) and dark-meat (P < 0.001) omega-3 fatty acid concentration compared with the full-fat seeds. Generally, the fatty acid composition of white and dark meat reflected the fatty acid profile of the full-fat seeds, meal or oil that were fed. Our results provide evidence that the incorporation of full-fat flax seeds or flax oil plus flax meal into broiler diets results in elevated deposition levels of omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid (LNA), 18:3-omega-3 and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), 20:5-omega-3) into white and dark meat. Increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids in human diets could therefore be achieved by consuming the enriched broiler chicken meats.