camelia (camelina sativa l. crantz variety) oil and seeds as n-3 fatty acids rich products in broiler diets and its effects on performance, meat fatty acid composition, immune tissue weights, and plasma metabolic profile

the study was carried out to investigate the effects of camelia (camelina sativa l. crantz) variety (cs) oil or seeds on performance, meat quality, immunity and plasma metabolic profile in broiler chickens. the broilers (n= 2,080, cobb 500) were randomly allocated (sex ratio 1:1) for 32-day experimental periods (from 11d to 42 d) to 4 experimental groups: control (corn-soybean meal-full fat soy based diet), group i (with cs oil added at 2.5%), group ii (5% cs seeds), and group iii (10% cs seeds, respectively) of 520 birds each, and received the diets ad libitum. gas chromatography method was used to determine the fatty acid profile of the ingredients and breast muscle. at slaughter (42 day), a simplified analysis of the carcasses was conducted. the thymus, spleen, and bursa of fabricius were aseptically removed and weighed. results indicated that the adding of 2.5% csoil and 5% cs seed did not have a negative effect on performance and carcass characteristics (i.e. carcass yield, legs, and breast proportions). chickens fed the diet containing 10% cs seed had significantly decreased (p< 0.001) bw gain. a significant decrease was also observed in the proportion of abdominal fat (p< 0.05) in carcasses with increasing levels of cs seeds in the diet. however, the diets with cs oil and seeds led to significant increases in omega n-3 fatty acids profile in the breast muscle, mainly α-linolenic acid (p< 0.0001), eicosapentaenoic acid(p< 0.0301), docosapentaenoic acid (p< 0.0123) and docosahexaenoic acid (p< 0.0026). the diets did not significantly affect the spleens and thymus weights, plasma enzymes activity, and total immunoglobulin (ig) content. plasma energy profile showed a tendency (p< 0.066) towards increased triglyceride content and significantly decreased total cholesterol (p< 0.019) and its fractions (p< 0.001) in the groups receiving cs oil and seeds in the diet.