Meat has been always a basic ingredient of the human diet. Currently, health experts are recommending a diet low in SFA and high in MUFA and PUFA, particularly from n-3 series. Unfortunately, beef fat contains a high level of SFA and a low proportion of essential PUFA. For this reason meat is considered a risk factor in the development of many diseases, such as obesity, arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease and cancers. The fatty acid profile of meat fat can be modified by supplementing diets for ruminants with vegetable or fish oils. New varieties of linseed and rapeseed, high in linoleic or linolenic acid, and fish oil, also high in EPA and DHA, can be very useful to improve the health quality of meat. Despite the hydrogenation in the rumen, some dietary fat bypasses the rumen intact and can be incorporated into the tissues.
Eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids are long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids that are essential for human health. They play an important role in prevention of heart disease and some cancers. The richest source of EPA and DHA are fish and marine products, but in Poland the consumption of fish is slightly declining. Milk enriched with EPA and DHA could be an alternative and effective means of increasing the consumption of these fatty acids. EPA and DHA could be transferred to milk from a cow’s diet or synthesized from their precursor, α-linolenic acid (LNA). Increasing the dietary supply of EPA and DHA, or LNA, has a limited effect, however, due to the extensive biohydrogenation of these fatty acids in the rumen and low uptake by the mammary gland. Feeding protected sources of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids does increase the EPA and DHA content of total fatty acids, although absolute levels are relatively low, and results in an increased concentration of conjugated linoleic acid in milk. Issues that need to be researched include the development of a suitable oil supplement and a reliable means of protecting it from rumen biohydrogenation.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of replacing cereal grains and soyabean oilmeal with rapeseed cake or glycerine in the rations of high-yielding cows. The experiment was carried out on 56 Polish HF cows allotted to 4 groups of 14 animals according to body weight, milk yield, and parity. The cows were fed rations differing in protein and energy content from 6 weeks before calving to 12 weeks of lactation. The basal diet of all groups was composed of silages, meadow hay and concentrate feeds. In the experimental groups, the cereal grains and soyabean oilmeal fed to the control group (C) were replaced by rapeseed cake (30%; groups RC and RCW6 ) or glycerine (5%, group G). For the entire experimental period, no statistical differences were found among the groups in the daily intake of dry matter and other nutrients, except PDIE. The control group cows produced about 1.2 kg/day less milk (P>0.05), but the contents of dry matter, fat, protein, lactose, and urea in milk were similar. The highest concentration of free fatty acids and β-hydroxybutyric acid were found in the milk of the control cows. Introducing 5% glycerol into the diet did not cause any significant changes in production parameters. The serum metabolite profile of cows fed the experimental diets suggests that these cows could have been at a lower risk of ketosis.