A Fatty acid profile and the Health Lipid Indices in Table Eggs

Abstract

This paper investigates the profile of fatty acids, as well as qualitative (∑PUFA/∑SFA, ∑n-6 PUFA/∑n-3 PUFA, LA/ALA, EPA+DHA), nutritional (NVI, AI, TI, SI, hHI, HPI), and metabolic (EI, THI, ∆9-desaturase, ∆5+∆6 desaturase, KAI) indices in the table eggs obtained from four different producers (A, B, C, and D). For the purpose of this research, forty L-class eggs were bought in a grocery store. The eggs were produced on four farms in Croatia. The health-lipid indices were calculated on the basis of a fattyacid profile in egg yolks. The most favorable qualitative indices were determined in the lipids of D eggs, with an exception of the EPA+DHA indices. The most nutritional indices were more favorable in the eggs of group A than in the eggs of groups B, C, and D. The metabolic indices THI and EI were more favorable in the eggs of the A and B group, respectively, while the ∆9-desaturase and the ∆5+∆6 desaturase indices were more favorable in the eggs of group D. A correlation between the selected health-lipid indices was also established. A very strong positive correlation (r = 0.97) was determined between the quantitative lipid indices of the LA/ALA and the ratio of ∑n-6 PUFA/∑n-3 PUFA, while a very strong negative correlation was determined between the quantitative indices of ∑PUFA/∑SFA, ∑n-6 PUFA/∑n-3 PUFA, and LA/ALA and the metabolic indices of the 5+6 desaturase. An egg-group ranking based on all health indices resulted in the following value order: A = 42, B and D = 38, and C = 32.

Keywords

• table eggs
• fatty acids
• health-lipid indices