Fatty acid composition and productive traits of broiler fed diets containing conjugated linoleic acid

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the transfer of dietary CLA to broiler chicken tissues (breast, drumstick meat, skin, and abdominal fat) and its effect on productive traits and on carcass yields of birds. Cobb 500 females (n=360), divided into three groups, received from 22 d to slaughtering age (47 d) a grower diet supplemented with 2% conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) source containing 60% CLA methyl esters (CLA2) or 4% CLA source (CLA4). The control group had no supplementation. The addition of CLA source to chicken diet decreased the content of monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) (oleic and palmitoleic acids) in breast and drumstick meat. The deposition of CLA in muscles significantly increased as the dietary CLA increased, whereas only little amounts of CLA were detected in the control group. Arachidonic acid (ARA) content was significantly depressed and linearly related to the addition of CLA to the chicken diet. Other non-CLA polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were little affected by the dietary CLA supplementation. Saturated fatty acids (myristic and stearic acids) significantly increased about 30% in abdominal fat pad of both treated groups enhancing the firmness of abdominal fat. Productive performances--as well as carcass yields--were similar across dietary treatment of birds.