Nannochloropsis oceanica microalga feeding increases long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in lamb meat

To test the hypothesis that lambs fed freeze-dried Nannochloropsis oceanica (NO) biomass will have a higher deposition of EPA in tissues than those fed other Nannochloropsis EPA-sources, we fed 28 lambs with one of four diets: i) C, control, without EPA; ii) O, with 1.2% Nannochloropsis oil; iii) SD, with 12.3% spray-dried NO biomass; iv) FD, with 9.2% freeze-dried NO biomass. Dry matter intake, growth, tissues fatty acid composition, oxidative stability and sensory traits of the resultant meat were evaluated. The EPA was highest in tissues of lambs fed SD and FD compared with O but was similar between SD and FD. Total trans-18:1 did not differ among treatments, but the t10/t11-18:1 ratio decreased with all EPA containing diets. EPA diets were also supplemented with Vitamin E preventing the lipid oxidation in EPA-enriched meat and the meat sensory traits were not affected although occasionally some off-flavours were detected in FD meat.