Influence of unsaturated to saturated ratio of fatty acids reaching the duodenum on postruminal digestion of stearic acid in Holstein steers fed a high-fat finishing diet

• Published in: Journal of advanced veterinary and animal research Vol. 8; no. 3; pp. 465 - 470
• Main Authors: Plascencia, Alejandro, Barreras, Alberto, Valdés-García, Yissel, Zinn, Richard A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bangladesh Network for the Veterinarians of Bangladesh Bangladesh Agricultural Universityת Faculty of Veterinary Science 01-09-2021; A periodical of the Network for the Veterinarians of Bangladesh (BDvetNET); Network for the Veterinarians of Bangladesh
• Subjects: Abomasum; Cattle; Diet; Dietary intake; Digestion; Duodenum; Experiments; fatty acid; postruminal digestion; steers;stearic acid; oleic acid; finishing diets; Fatty acids; Feces; High fat diet; Intestine; Oils & fats; Oleic acid; Short Communication; Small intestine; Steam; Stearic acid; stearic acid; finishing diets; steers; Fatty acid; oleic acid; postruminal digestion
• ISSN: 2311-7710; 2311-7710
• DOI: 10.5455/javar.2021.h535

To evaluate the influence of the unsaturated to saturated ratio of fatty acids (FAs) reaching the duodenum on postruminal digestion of FAs, mainly focused on stearic acid (C18:0).
Six Holstein steers [208 ± 3 kg initial live weight (LW)] with cannulas in the abomasum and proximal duodenum were used in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design. Steers were fed a fixed amount of a basal steam-flaked corn-based diet containing 8% supplemental fat and were daily infused via abomasum with 0, 67, and 165 gm oleic acid (C18:1). The experiment lasted for 42 days.
The daily total FA (TFA) intake (dietary FA intake plus abomasal infusion of oleic acid) represented a 1.78, 2.10, and 2.56 gm TFA/kg LW ratio. The unsaturated to saturated ratio of FAs entering the duodenum increased (
< 0.01) as level C18:1 infusion into the abomasum increased. Infusion of C18:1 tended (quadratic component,
= 0.07) to improve postruminal TFA digestion, being maximal for the 67 gm/day infusions. This increase in TFA digestion was due to increased (quadratic component,
= 0.03) postruminal C18:0 digestion (postruminal digestion of the other FAs was not different,
≥ 0.13).
Increasing the unsaturated to saturated ratio of FAs entering the small intestine will enhance intestinal C18:0 digestion. This positive effect is expected to be more likely beneficial when FA intake is high (and thus, the duodenal flow of FA is high), but this benefit looks diminished when the quantity of TFA reaching the intestine exceeds the proportion of 2.13 gm FA/kg LW.