Polyunsaturated fats in meat from Merino, first- and second-cross sheep slaughtered as yearlings Ponnampalam, E.N., Hopkins, D. L., Butler, K. L., Dunshea, F.R., Sinclair, A. J. and Warner, R. D. 2009, Polyunsaturated fats in meat from Merino, first- and second-cross sheep slaughtered as yearlings, Meat science, vol. 83, no. 2, pp. 314-319, doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2009.05.018. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Polyunsaturated fats in meat from Merino, first- and second-cross sheep slaughtered as yearlings Author(s) Ponnampalam, E.N. Hopkins, D. L. Butler, K. L. Dunshea, F.R. Sinclair, A. J. Warner, R. D. Journal name Meat science Volume number 83 Issue number 2 Start page 314 End page 319 Total pages 6 Publisher Elsevier Place of publication Amsterdam, The Netherlands Publication date 2009-10 ISSN 0309-1740 1873-4138 Keyword(s) omega-3 polyunsaturated fats sheep genotypes lipids in meat human health Summary This study examined the level of long chain omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, the ratio of polyunsaturated fat to saturated fat (PUFA/SFA) and the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 (n-6/n-3) fat in sheep grown under grazing conditions in Australia. The sheep genotypes used were Poll Dorsetgrowth × Border Leicester Merino (PDg × BLM), Poll Dorsetgrowth × Merino (PDg × M), Poll Dorsetmuscling × Merino (PDm × M), Border Leicester × Merino (BL × M) and Merino × Merino (M × M). Loin muscles (Longissimus lumborum) collected from 40 ewe and wether sheep slaughtered at 14 months of age were processed for fatty acid determination. After frozen storage, 20 g samples were minced and a 7 g homogenate was processed for muscle lipid extraction using a chloroform:methanol (2:1) procedure. There was an increase in PUFA/SFA as the proportion of Merino genetics increased in the progeny (second-cross < first-cross < Merino), but this was not shown in the n-6/n-3 ratio. The PUFA/SFA trend appeared to be associated with an increase in the level of total polyunsaturated fats, but not a decrease in the level of total saturated fats. The results demonstrate that there is a need to improve the PUFA/SFA content in first- and second-cross animals which are mainly used for meat production in Australia so as to maintain the healthy lipids in meat. Nutritional manipulation through feeding systems or selection of sires for greater heritability of omega-3 fat deposition may be suitable pathways to elevate the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids, and in particular omega-3. Language eng DOI 10.1016/j.meatsci.2009.05.018 Field of Research 070204 Animal Nutrition HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal ERA Research output type C Journal article HERDC collection year 2009 Copyright notice ©2009, Elsevier Ltd Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30019540 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Health School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (restricted access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Wed, 16 Sep 2009, 15:15:09 EST Mon, 21 Sep 2009, 12:43:34 EST Mon, 21 Sep 2009, 12:44:58 EST Wed, 02 Dec 2009, 13:19:51 EST Wed, 11 Aug 2010, 16:30:51 EST Mon, 16 Jun 2014, 12:54:39 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 16 times in TR Web of Science Cited 16 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 859 Abstract Views, 4 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Wed, 16 Sep 2009, 15:15:08 EST by Sally Morrigan