Fatty Acid Profiles of Various Muscles and Adipose Tissues from Fattening Horses in Comparison with Beef Cattle and Pigs

The present studies were designed to provide new information on fatty acid profiles of various muscles and adipose tissues of fattening horses in comparison with beef cattle and pigs. In the first study, the lipids were extracted respectively from subcutaneous, intermuscular adipose tissues, longissimus dorsi and biceps femoris muscles of fattening Breton horses (n = 8) with an average body weight of 1,124 kg. In the second study, the lipids were extracted from subcutaneous, intermuscular adipose tissues and longissimus dorsi muscle of fattening horses (n = 13), Japanese Black beef cattle (n = 5), Holstein steers (n = 5) and fattening pigs (n = 5). The fatty acids in the lipid samples were determined by gas chromatography after methylation by a combined base/acid methylation method. It was found that the lipids from horse subcutaneous and intermuscular adipose tissues contained more (p<0.05) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) which were mainly composed of linoleic acid (C18:2) and linolenic acid (C18:3) than those in the muscles. The weight percent of conjugated linoleic acids (CLA cis 9, trans 11) in lipids from biceps femoris muscle was 0.22%, which was higher (p<0.05) than that from the other depots. The horse lipids were higher (p<0.05) in PUFA but lower (p<0.05) in SFA and MUFA in comparison with those of the cattle and pigs. The percentage of C18:2 or C18:3 fatty acid in the horse lipids were respectively 2-8 fold or 5-18 fold higher (p<0.05) than those of the cattle and pigs. The percentages of CLA (cis 9, trans 11) in the horse lipids (0.140.16%) were very close to those of the pigs (0.18-0.19%) but much lower (p<0.05) than those of the Japanese Black beef cattle (0.550.94%) and Holstein steers (0.46-0.71%). The results indicated that the fatty acid profiles of lipids from different muscle and adipose tissues of fattening horses differed significantly. In comparison with that of the beef cattle and pigs, the horse lipids contained more C18:2 and C18:3 but less CLA. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2005. Vol 18, No. 11 : 1655-1661)