CHANGES IN CARDIAC LIPIDS OF CHICKS FED RAPESEED OILS WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ERUCIC ACID

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Abstract
Male White Leghorn chicks were fed either a basal diet or diets supplemented with soybean oil or four different rapeseed oils at 20% by weight of the diet from 1 day of age to 3 days, 1, 2 and 4 wk. The four rapeseed oils contained different levels of erucic (0.9–22.3%) and eicosenoic (1.5–12.3%) acids. Only the diet containing rapeseed oil high in erucic acid gave higher cardiac fat levels as measured gravimetrically. Maximum deposition of the long-chain monoenes, erucic and eicosenoic acids, had occurred in the cardiac lipids of chicks after 3 days on diet, and the levels remained high throughout the 4-wk trial. The relative concentration of these long-chain monoenes in the cardiac lipids of chicks was positively correlated to the dietary levels of these acids. The composition of the alkenyl groups of the plasmalogenic lipids was changed by feeding rapeseed oil, with 18:1 becoming the major alkenyl group. Minor amounts of 20:1 and 22:1 alkenyl groups were detected in the plasmalogenic lipids of chicks fed rapeseed oils. Finally, a comparison is made of the relative concentration of erucic and eicosenoic acids found in cardiac lipids of chicks to that found in rats and pigs fed diets containing the same rapeseed oil rich in these monoenes.