Fatty acid composition and regression prediction of fatty acid concentration in edible chicken tissues

Abstract

The nutritional benefits of consuming long chain ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which are found predominantly in linseed for example, are well known. The consumption of poultry meat has increased in consumption by 80% in the last three decades. The best method of increasing long chain ω-3 PUFA consumption would be to increase the long chain ω-3 PUFA content in the edible tissues of poultry aimed for human diets. It has been shown that heart and blood vessel diseases, as well as the occurrence of atherosclerosis are a direct consequence of consuming products of animal origin in human nutrition which contain a high content of lipids rich in saturated fatty acids (SFA), which are the main causes of these diseases. For these reasons healthy foods enriched in PUFAs, particularly ω-3 fatty acids, have gained high importance because of their beneficial effects on human health. Apart from the importance of being able to predict chicken carcass conformation it is also necessary to calculate the required level of fatty acids in the chicken diet that are incorporated into the edible tissues. Regression analysis is most often used for this prediction. The goal in regression analysis is to create a mathematical model that can be used to predict the values of a dependent variable based upon the values of an independent variable. The aim of this paper is to show possible solutions for broiler edible tissue enrichment with ω-3 fatty acids from linseed, and to give possible solutions to the inclusion level of fatty acids in the diets using regression analyses. © World's Poultry Science Association 2014.