Dietary alpha-linolenic acid enhances omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid levels in chicken tissues

The effects of enriching broiler chicken diets with a vegetable source of n−3 fat in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n−3) on the accumulation of n−3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) in chicken meat were investigated. Sixty unsexed one-day-old broiler chickens (Cobb 500) were randomly allocated to one of six diets (n=10 birds/diet) for 4 weeks. The ALA levels varied from 1 to 8% energy (%en) while the level of the n−6 fatty acid linoleic acid (LA, 18:2n−6) was held to less than 5%en in all diets. At harvest (day 28) the levels of n−3 LCPUFA including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in breast and thigh meat increased in a curvilinear manner as dietary ALA increased, reaching 4- to 9-fold above the levels seen in control birds. In contrast, arachidonic acid (AA) was reduced in response to increasing dietary ALA.