Lipids in Ruminant Nutrition and Its Effect on Human Health

Lipids in Ruminant Nutrition and Its Effect on Human Health

Eman H. Elsabaawy, Sawsan M. Gad
Copyright: © 2021 |Pages: 24
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-5000-7.ch015
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Abstract

Scientific evidence and nutritional guidelines recommend a reduction in total fat intake, particularly of saturated fatty acids, which are associated with an increased risk of obesity, hypercholesterolemia, and cancer. Nutritionists recommend a higher intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), especially n-3 PUFA at the expense of n-6 PUFA. Besides the beneficial effects of n-3 fatty acids on human health, the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomers have attracted increased attention as a result of their health promoting biological properties. As milk and meat are the main sources of CLA for human consumption, increasing such important nutrient in animal products is strongly recommended. Fat supplementation is one of the methods of increasing PUFA content in ruminant products, and it has been shown that PUFA can be increased in milk by supplementation with vegetable oils and oil seeds. Vegetable oils as equivalent to oilseeds show similar effects on CLA content in ruminant products.
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Fatty Acids Chemistry

Types of Fatty Acids

Fatty acids are classified as saturated or unsaturated fatty acids. They differ in length and often categorized as short, medium, or long chain fatty acids. Unsaturated fatty acids have one or more double bonds between carbon atoms. The two carbon atoms in the chain that are bound next to either side of the double bond can occur in a cis or trans configuration.

A cis configuration means that adjacent hydrogen atoms are on the same side of the double bond. A trans configuration, by contrast, means that the next two hydrogen atoms are bound to opposite sides of the double bond. As a result, they do not cause the chain to bend much, and their shape is similar to straight saturated fatty acids (SFA) (Fig. 1). In most naturally occurring unsaturated fatty acids, each double bond has three n carbon atoms after it, and all are cis bonds (Bhallaet al., 2009).

Figure 1.

Comparison between the trans and the cis-isomers. Adapted from Bhallaet al., (2009).

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