The effect of duration of fish oil inclusion to diet on fatty acid profile of broilers carcass

The aim of present study was to determine the optimal time of fish oil inclusion in broiler feed formulation to access acceptable omega-3 fatty acids enrichment in chicken meat. At a completely randomized design, 600 one-day old chicks (Ross 308) were randomly allocated to 6 groups and 4 replicates for each. The control group fed a diet containing 5 % corn oil and in experimental groups the fish oil was substituted for corn oil from 2,3,4,5 and 6 weeks of age. At the end of the experimental period, profile of fatty acids of whole carcasses was measured. Concentration of linolenic acid and arachidonic acid decreased as duration of fish oil consumption increased in the diet. Although, the concentration of omega-3 fatty acids increased (P<0.01), but concentration of poly-unsaturated fatty acids decreased because of decreasing in the concentration of omega-6 fatty acids. As a consequence, n-6 to n-3 ratio and unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio in whole carcass decreased with increases in duration of fish oil consumption. According to results of this research, inclusion of fish oil to broiler chicken diet for three compared to two weeks leads to higher increase in n-3 fatty acids contents of chicken carcass. The fish oil consumption for two weeks was found to be the minimum required time to increase omega-3 fatty acids contents of broiler meat.