Effect of linseed oil sediment in the diet of pigs on the growth performance and fatty acid profile of meat

The objective of this investigation was to examine the influence of dietary linseed oil sediment on the growth performance and fatty acid composition in the muscle tissue of pigs. Sixty-eight crossbred Swedish Yorkshire × Norwegian Landrace pigs were allocated to two trials with two different levels of linseed oil sediment. Twenty-four pigs in Trial 1 were allotted into control 1 and experimental 1, of 12 animals each, and forty-four pigs in Trial 2 were allotted into control 2 and experimental 2, of 22 animals each. In both treatments, control and experimental groups were formed by animals analogous by origin, gender, weight, and condition score. Control pigs were fed identical diets ad libitum in both trials. The treated pigs were fed the same diet as control pigs, but vegetable oil was replaced by linseed oil sediment at a rate of 25 g kg−1 (experimental group 1) in Trial 1 and 50 g kg−1 (experimental group 2) in Trial 2. The results indicated that in both trials, vegetable oil replacement for linseed oil sediment had no significant influence on the growth rate of pigs, though a tendency was observed for a more rapid daily gain. Addition of linseed oil sediment to the diets increased the content of n-3 α-linolenic (C18:3n-3), eicosatrienoic (C20:3n-3), and eicosapentaenoic (C20:5n-3) acids and total n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and decreased the C18:2n-6/C18:3n-3 and n-6:n-3 ratios and the thrombogenic index of meat. Moreover, the addition of 50 g kg−1 linseed oil sediment resulted in higher content of docosapentaenoic (C22:5n-3) fatty acid, total PUFA, and PUFA:SFA ratio. Supplementation of pig diets with linseed oil sediment increases the content of α-linolenic, eicosatrienoic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosapentaenoic fatty acids and total content of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and have a positive effect by improving the polyunsaturated fatty acids:saturated fatty acids and n-6:n-3 fatty acid ratios in meat.