RAISED OMEGA-3 FATTY ACID LEVELS IN PIGS FED FLAX

Abstract

Young growing pigs fed a creep feed containing 5% flax for 8 wk had significantly higher amounts of omega-3 fatty acids in liver, kidney, heart, skin, subcutaneous adipose tissue, and muscle than pigs fed the same diet containing no flax. Increased amounts of desaturation-elongation products of alpha-linolenic acid were observed in liver, heart, kidney and brain. Key words: Flax, alpha-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid