In vitro versus in situ ruminal biohydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids from a raw or extruded mixture of ground canola seed/canola meal.

Raw or extruded blends of ground canola seeds and canola meal were used to compare in vitro and in situ lag times and rates of disappearance due to ruminal biohydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids. The in situ study resulted in higher lag times for biohydrogenation for polyunsaturated fatty acids and lower rates of biohydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids than the in vitro study, so the in situ biohydrogenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids was not complete at 24 h of incubation. With both methods, rates of biohydrogenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids were higher than for cis-delta9C18:1. Extrusion did not affect the rate of biohydrogenation of cis-delta9C18:1, but resulted in higher rates of biohydrogenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids with higher proportions of trans intermediates of biohydrogenation at 4 h of incubation in vitro and at 8 h of incubation in situ. These results suggest that extrusion affects the isomerization of polyunsaturated fatty acids, rather than the hydrogenation steps. In conclusion, in vitro and in situ methods can both show differences of ruminal metabolism of unsaturated fatty acids due to processing, but the methods provide very different estimates of the rates of disappearance due to biohydrogenation.