Effects of different dietary lipids on the fatty acid composition of broiler abdominal fat

The effect of three different lipid sources (soybean oil, chicken oil or bovine fat) on the abdominal fat fatty acid composition in 50 day-old broiler chickens was evaluated. A completely randomized design was used, with 4 treatments, 8 repetitions and 40 Arbor Acres broiler chicks of each sex. The four treatments were isocaloric and isoproteic with the following characteristics: T1 Control (Soybean-corn); T2 Control + 3% soybean oil; T3 Control + 3% chicken oil; and T4 Control + 3% bovine fat. The lipids from the diets had significantly statistical effects (p<0,05) on the fatty acid composition of broiler abdominal fat. Multivariate techniques also showed differences in fatty acid composition within treatments due to sex. The studied dietary lipids affected the polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio (P/S) but had only small effects on the n-6: n-3 fatty acid ratio.