Effect of dietary erucic acid on the utilization of oils or fats by growing chicks.

Free erucic acid (EA) (C22:1) was blended with Cambra oil (CBO), sunflower oil (SFO), and animal lard (AL) at 45% (w/w). Six experimental diets were formulated to incorporate either CBO, SFO, AL, or EA blended oils (CBO plus EA, SFO plus EA), or fats (AL plus EA) at 8%. The adverse effects of dietary EA blended with various types of oils or fats were studied by feeding 180-day-old White Leghorn cockerels for a 4-week growing period. In general, adverse effects of dietary EA were clearly reflected in feed consumption, chick growth, and apparent digestibility of total lipids as well as individual fatty acids. The AL plus EA produced significantly greater adverse effects than with SFO plus EA. The diet containing CBO (low EA, 5.1% rapeseed oil) depressed chick growth and feed consumption, but no additive effect was manifested when EA was supplemented. The fatty acid profile of dietary SFO appears to counteract the metabolic burden of excess dietary EA. It was concluded that high linoleic acid content in SFO may be the major contributing factor in alleviating the adverse response to EA.