Effects of diets containing sunflower oil and fish oil on lipid metabolism and fatty acid flow to the duodenum of beef steers

Duodenal fistulated steers were offered grass silage at 14 g/kg liveweight and one of three concentrates at a ratio of 60:40 (forage:concentrate on a dry matter basis): FISH0, FISH1 or FISH2 designed to be iso-lipid and to provide the same amount of sunflower oil but increasing amounts of fish oil: 0, 1 and 4%, respectively. Fatty acid intakes and duodenal flows were examined to determine the effects of fish oil on polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) metabolism. Fish oil significantly increased the flow of long chain PUFA, conjugated linoleic acid and trans vaccenic acid to the duodenum and decreased the flow of stearic acid. Biohydrogenation of linoleic and linolenic acids was not affected by fish oil inclusion.