Plasma fatty acids in sheep fed hydroxyethylsoyamide, a fatty acyl amide that resists biohydrogenation

Hydroxyethylsoyamide (HESA) was made from soybean oil (SBO) and ethanolamine to determine the effectiveness of this fatty acyl amide to escape ruminal biohydrogenation and increase unsaturated fatty acids in plasma of sheep. The disappearance rate of 18:2n-6 from in vitro cultures was reduced 61% when the substrates contained added HESA compared to added linoleic acid. The decline in acetate to propionate ratio in the cultures also was less for HESA than for linoleic acid, which indicates lower inhibition of fermentation by HESA. Four sheep were housed in metabolism stalls for the collection of feces and urine and fed four diets in a Latin square design with 17-d periods. The diets contained no added fat (control) or were supplemented with 2.5% SBO, 5% butylsoyamide (BuSA), or 5% HESA. Plasma 18:2n-6 was not changed by feeding SBO. However, compared to the control diet, 18:2n-6 increased 19 and 35% in plasma fatty acids, and 74 and 113% in plasma triglycerides when sheep were fed BuSA and HESA, respectively. Digestibility of HESA was greater than for BuSA (99.5 vs. 48.4%, respectively). No amide was detected in plasma of sheep fed either BuSA or HESA. This study further supports that unsaturated oils can be converted to fatty acyl amides as a way to avoid ruminal biohydrogenation and elevate unsaturated fatty acids in body tissues of ruminants. Also, digestibility of the amide and plasma unsaturated fatty acids was enhanced more when the amide was synthesized from ethanolamine than when synthesized from butylamine.