DIETARY-FAT REDUCES ODD-NUMBERED AND BRANCHED-CHAIN FATTY-ACIDS IN DEPOT LIPIDS OF RABBITS

Forty eight Californian x New Zealand White rabbits were randomly dist ributed in three groups of 16 animals each. A control (with no added f at) and two diets enriched at a rate of 30 g fat kg(-1) were used. Oli ve oil and sunflower oil were used as sources of fat for the fat-suppl emented diets. Branched chain (BCFA) and n-odd-numbered carbon fatty a cids (ONFA) in the perirenal fat depots of control animals were respec tively 5 and 22 mg g(-1) of total fatty acids, while in fat-enriched d iets they were around 3 and 16 mg g(-1), respectively. The ratio of un saturated: saturated fatty acid in perirenal fat was 1.25:1 when the c ontrol diet was administered and around 1.80-1.95:1 in fat-enriched di et groups, which represents approximately a 50% increase (P < 0.01). H owever the melting points of the fats showed little difference (NS) be tween the control group and the group with olive oil addition whilst t he sunflower oil-supplemented group showed only a 5.7% lower value (P < 0.01). In a second experiment in which diets with equal digestible e nergy and protein were used, reductions in total amounts of ONFA (P < 0.01) and BCFA (P < 0.05) were observed in the perirenal fat of animal s receiving the fat-enriched diets. The addition of fat depressed the concentrations of ONFA and BCFA, which may act to maintain the consist ency of fat in a narrow range, avoiding to some extent the production of undesirable soft and floppy carcasses.