Essential fatty acids in ruminant diets

The essentiality of the unsaturated fatty acids, linoleic and linolenic, was described by Burr and Burr in a series of papers from the late 1920’s to the early 1930’s (Burr et al., 1932). They are incorporated into membranes as such, and are precursors for other unsaturated fatty acids that are key for metabolic regulation and cell membrane function and are essential to life for all mammals. Progress on nutrition and physiology of essential fatty acids (EFA) was slow until the near simultaneous development of gas liquid chromatography to separate and quantify fatty acids rapidly (late 1950’s) and the discovery of prostaglandins (1964), and EFA as their precursors.