Premium
Inclusion of Flaxseed in Hay‐ and Barley Silage Diets Increases Alpha‐Linolenic Acid in Cow Plasma Independent of Forage Type
Author(s) -
He M. L.,
Chung Y.H.,
McAllister T. A.,
Beauchemin K. A.,
Mir P. S.,
Aalhus J. L.,
Dugan M. E. R.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
lipids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.601
H-Index - 120
eISSN - 1558-9307
pISSN - 0024-4201
DOI - 10.1007/s11745-011-3534-4
Subject(s) - hay , silage , forage , alpha linolenic acid , linolenic acid , food science , ruminant , zoology , biology , chemistry , agronomy , fatty acid , pasture , polyunsaturated fatty acid , biochemistry , linoleic acid , docosahexaenoic acid
Feeding flaxseed to cattle may be a means of increasing omega‐3 fatty acid levels in ruminant products, but possible interactions with conserved forages have not been investigated. Twelve Holstein cows were used in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin Square experiment. Cows were fed one of four 50:50 forage:concentrate diets (DM basis): hay (hay control, HC), hay plus 15% ground flaxseed (hay‐flaxseed, HF), barley silage (silage control, SC), and barley silage plus 15% ground flaxseed (silage‐flaxseed, SF). Plasma concentrations of alpha‐linolenic acid (ALA) did not differ between SC and HC diets. Flaxseed increased ALA ( P < 0.05), but levels were not influenced by forage type. Flaxseed slightly increased 18:2n‐6 ( P < 0.05) and some n‐6 and n‐3 elongation and desaturation products, particularly arachidonic acid (ARA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Flaxseed also increased C18:0 ( P < 0.05) with this increase being greater ( P < 0.01) for cows fed SF than HF. Feeding flaxseed also increased plasma C18:1‐ trans isomers ( P < 0.01), predominantly vaccenic acid (VAA, 18:1‐ t 11), with this increase being greater ( P < 0.05) in cows fed HF than SF. Although conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was increased ( P < 0.001) with flaxseed it was not influenced by forage type ( P = 0.06). Overall, feeding flaxseed increased plasma ALA, EPA, ARA and CLA independently of forage type. Feeding flaxseed with silage, however, resulted in more 18:0, while feeding flaxseed with hay resulted in greater accumulations of plasma 18:1‐ trans isomers mainly in the form of VAA.