engleski

Fatty acid profiles in yolk lipids of conventional and Omega-3 eggs

Table eggs are considered as a functional product if they are enriched with nutricines, i.e. with ingredients that have beneficial influence on human health. Products that are designed to protect human cardiovascular system contain higher portions of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA), which ratio is balanced with n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-6 PUFA). Many health organizations recommend the n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio to range from 3:1 to 10:1, however, in reality that ratio reaches 15:1 in USA, and 1:1 to 3:1 in Japan. Results of researches carried out in the Republic of Croatia indicated that the ratio of n-6/n-3 PUFA in eggs was ranging from 11:1 to 35:1. The aim of our research was to enrich table eggs with n-3 PUFA, especially with essential eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, the lacking of which might lead to occurrence of various chronic inflammatory diseases in a human organism. After five weeks of feeding of laying hens with standard and experimental diets, there was analysis carried out to determine the fatty acid profile in egg yolks of both groups. Omega-3 eggs contain statistically significantly (P<0.05) less ΣSFA and more Σn-3 PUFA, as well as narrower ratio of Σn-6/Σn-3 PUFA than conventional eggs. If referring to individual fatty acids of omega-3 eggs, there were increased portions (P<0.05) of α-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid determined in our research, which was in line with the research objective. Laying hens have the ability to incorporate fatty acids in yolks directly from feed, and to convert fatty acids of short carbon chain into those of long carbon chain. Eggs enriched with functional ingredients, such as n-3 PUFA, represent a product of better nutritional quality. Within the presented research, concentration of n-3 PUFA in egg yolk lipids of experimental group was two times higher than in the control group. The ratio of Σn-6 PUFA/ Σn-3 PUFA was reduced from 12.04 to 6.17. Within their enzymatic system, laying hens can act as a bioreactor to naturally enrich their eggs with n-3 PUFA, especially with EPA and DHA. The results of our research proved that the fatty acid profile can be modified by designing of laying hens’ diets with specific forages. Eggs were enriched with favorable fatty acids in the following order: α-LNA > DHA > DPA > EPA.

eggs ; PUFA ; EPA ; DHA

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