Nutritional strategies in changing fatty acid profile of feed for broilers in order to produce funcional food of animal origin

Abstract

Numerous medical findings show that in development of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases in humans, the relationship between two groups of polyunsaturated fatty acids in diet plays a significant role: omega 6 acids whose basic representative is linoleic acid (C18: 2 n-6) and omega 3 acids whose basic representative of α-linolenic acid (C18: 3 n-3). Human needs are approximately two to six times higher in omega 6 than in omega 3 fatty acids, so the optimal ratio of omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids would be 4: 1. In monogastric animals such as poultry and pigs, the fatty acids in feed are absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract largely unchanged, which means that the fatty acid profile of the tissue directly reflects the fatty acid profile in the animal's diet. The daily intake of unsaturated fatty acids can be increased by an adequate animal nutrition strategy. The largest amount of unsaturated fatty acids in flax seeds (about 70%) is α-linolenic acid (ALA), which is a precursor of the entire omega 3 series of fatty acids, which makes flax seed an ideal raw material for the production of a wide range of omega 3 enriched food of animal origin. In order to obtain products under the commercial name Domestic chicken omega 3, an experiment was organized with a specific diet for broilers in fattening, with the replacement of classic raw materials rich in omega 6 fatty acids, with exuded flax seed, obtained feed for broilers with an ideal fatty acid profile. Thanks to such a designed meal for broilers, it is possible to get products with a significantly higher amount of omega 3 fatty acids.